Each of the cucumbers in 100 pounds is composed of 99% water

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AAPL: Moderator; Posts: 2599; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:08 pm; Followed by:2 members

Each of the cucumbers in 100 pounds is composed of 99% water

by AAPL » Sun Aug 26, 2018 7:45 am

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Manhattan Prep

Each of the cucumbers in 100 pounds is composed of 99% water, by weight. After some of the water evaporates, the cucumbers are now 98% water by weight. What is the new weight of the cucumbers in pounds?

A. 2
B. 50
C. 92
D. 96
E. 98

OA B.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Sun Aug 26, 2018 7:45 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; Followed by:1906 members; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:20 am

AAPL wrote:Manhattan Prep

Each of the cucumbers in 100 pounds is composed of 99% water, by weight. After some of the water evaporates, the cucumbers are now 98% water by weight. What is the new weight of the cucumbers in pounds?

A. 2
B. 50
C. 92
D. 96
E. 98

Since the cucumbers are 99% water, the 100 pounds of cucumbers are composed of 99 pounds of water and 1 POUND OF OTHER STUFF.

After evaporation makes the cucumbers 98% water, the 1 POUND OF OTHER STUFF must constitute 2% of the new total:
1 = (2/100)x
x = 100/2 = 50.

The correct answer is B.

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Jeff@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1462; Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:34 am; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 39 times; Followed by:22 members

by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Tue Sep 04, 2018 3:27 am

AAPL wrote:Manhattan Prep

Each of the cucumbers in 100 pounds is composed of 99% water, by weight. After some of the water evaporates, the cucumbers are now 98% water by weight. What is the new weight of the cucumbers in pounds?

A. 2
B. 50
C. 92
D. 96
E. 98

We see that 99 pounds is water and 1 pound is cucumber. Letting w = the number of pounds of water that evaporates, we can create the following equation:

(99 - w)/(100 - w) = 98/100

Cross-multiplying, we have:

100(99 - w) = 98(100 - w)

9900 - 100w = 9800 - 98w

100 = 2w

50 = w

The cucumbers have lost 50 pounds of water, so the new weight of the cucumbers is 100 - 50 = 50 pounds.

Answer: B

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