A bag contains only 3 different colours and atleast one

This topic has expert replies
Legendary Member
Posts: 2276
Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:10 am
Followed by:3 members

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

A bag contains only 3 different colors and at least one ball of red, white and blue color. If the number of balls of each color is distinct and red colored balls are more than each of the other two colors, what is the probability of picking red ball?

(1) the number of blue and white balls is half of the total number of balls.
(2) there are 3 red colored balls.

The OA is the option D.

I need some help here. Please, could someone explain this DS question? Thanks.
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3008
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:19 am
Location: Grand Central / New York
Thanked: 470 times
Followed by:34 members

by Jay@ManhattanReview » Thu May 03, 2018 7:35 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

VJesus12 wrote:A bag contains only 3 different colors and at least one ball of red, white and blue color. If the number of balls of each color is distinct and red colored balls are more than each of the other two colors, what is the probability of picking red ball?

(1) the number of blue and white balls is half of the total number of balls.
(2) there are 3 red colored balls.

The OA is the option D.

I need some help here. Please, could someone explain this DS question? Thanks.
We have to determine the probability of picking a red ball.

Let's take each statement one by one.

(1) The number of blue and white balls is half of the total number of balls.

The statement itself means that the probability of picking a red ball = 1/2.

Anyway, let's take the traditional way of solving the question.

Say the number of blue and white balls is x then the total number of red balls = x.

The probability of picking a red ball = (Number of red balls) / (Total number of balls) = x/2x = 1/2. Sufficient.

(2) There are 3 red colored balls.

Since the number of red balls is greater than that of white and that of blue balls, the number of white and that of blue balls would be either 2 or 1.

Since the number of balls of each color is distinct, if the number of white balls = 2, the number of blue balls = 1, or vice versa.

=> The number of white plus blue balls = 2 + 1 = 3.

The probability of picking a red ball = (Number of red balls) / (Total number of balls) = 3/(3 + 3) = 1/2. Sufficient.

The correct answer: D

Hope this helps!

-Jay
_________________
Manhattan Review GMAT Prep

Locations: New York | Singapore | Doha | Lausanne | and many more...

Schedule your free consultation with an experienced GMAT Prep Advisor! Click here.