For a certain company

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For a certain company

by darlingriyarai » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:45 am
For a certain company, the ratio of the amount budgeted for research to the amount budgeted for production is 2 to 7 and the ratio of the amount budgeted for marketing to the amount budgeted for production is 1 to 5. What is the ratio of the amount budgeted for research to the total amount budgeted for research, production, and marketing?

A. 1 to 5
B. 2 to 5
C. 2 to 9
D. 5 to 14
E. 5 to 26
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by nisagl750 » Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:25 am
darlingriyarai wrote:For a certain company, the ratio of the amount budgeted for research to the amount budgeted for production is 2 to 7 and the ratio of the amount budgeted for marketing to the amount budgeted for production is 1 to 5. What is the ratio of the amount budgeted for research to the total amount budgeted for research, production, and marketing?

A. 1 to 5
B. 2 to 5
C. 2 to 9
D. 5 to 14
E. 5 to 26
Let amount allocated to Research be R, production be P and marketing be M
Given,
R/P = 2/7 = 10/35
M/P = 1/5 = 7/35

So R = 10K, P = 35K, M = 7K (where K is some constant)

Ques: R/(R+P+M) = 10K/(10K + 35K + 7K)
= 10K/52K
= 5/26

Ans E

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:43 am
darlingriyarai wrote:For a certain company, the ratio of the amount budgeted for research to the amount budgeted for production is 2 to 7 and the ratio of the amount budgeted for marketing to the amount budgeted for production is 1 to 5. What is the ratio of the amount budgeted for research to the total amount budgeted for research, production, and marketing?

A. 1 to 5
B. 2 to 5
C. 2 to 9
D. 5 to 14
E. 5 to 26
We can combine the 2 ratios to get a 3-part ratio. This requires a common term.

Given:
research/production = 2/7
marketing/production = 1/5

Both ratios share a production value. So, let's find equivalent ratios such that the production value is the same for both. We get:
research/production = 2/7 = 10/35
marketing/production = 1/5 = 7/35

Now that both ratios share the same production value (of 35), we can combine the ratios to get:
research:production: marketing = 10:35: 7

We want to find the ratio research : (research+production+marketing)
= 10 : (10+35+7)
= 10 : 52
= 5 : 26 [spoiler]= E[/spoiler]

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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