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# of Passengers

by bhumika.k.shah » Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:17 am
The number of passengers on a certain bus at any given time is given by the equation P = -2(S - 4)^2 + 32, where P is the number of passengers and S is the number of stops the bus has made since beginning its route. If the bus begins its route with no passengers, what is the value of S when the bus has its greatest number of passengers?

9
6
4
2
1

MGMAT CAT
Last edited by bhumika.k.shah on Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by harshavardhanc » Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:41 am
bhumika.k.shah wrote:The number of passengers on a certain bus at any given time is given by the equation P = -2(S - 4)2 + 32, where P is the number of passengers and S is the number of stops the bus has made since beginning its route. If the bus begins its route with no passengers, what is the value of S when the bus has its greatest number of passengers?

9
6
4
2
1

MGMAT CAT
you can view the equation as P=A+32

after the 4th stop, A is always -ve and hence, P will decrease.

before 4th stop, the value of (S-4) is least at S=1, and hence A in the above equation will be greatest. Remember S>0.

IMO, E. What's the OA?
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Harsha
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by bhumika.k.shah » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:03 am
OA [spoiler]C=4[/spoiler]

harshavardhanc wrote:
bhumika.k.shah wrote:The number of passengers on a certain bus at any given time is given by the equation P = -2(S - 4)2 + 32, where P is the number of passengers and S is the number of stops the bus has made since beginning its route. If the bus begins its route with no passengers, what is the value of S when the bus has its greatest number of passengers?

9
6
4
2
1

MGMAT CAT
you can view the equation as P=A+32

after the 4th stop, A is always -ve and hence, P will decrease.

before 4th stop, the value of (S-4) is least at S=1, and hence A in the above equation will be greatest. Remember S>0.

IMO, E. What's the OA?
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by harshavardhanc » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:14 am
bhumika.k.shah wrote:OA [spoiler]C=4[/spoiler]

harshavardhanc wrote:
bhumika.k.shah wrote:The number of passengers on a certain bus at any given time is given by the equation P = -2(S - 4)2 + 32, where P is the number of passengers and S is the number of stops the bus has made since beginning its route. If the bus begins its route with no passengers, what is the value of S when the bus has its greatest number of passengers?

9
6
4
2
1

MGMAT CAT

you can view the equation as P=A+32

after the 4th stop, A is always -ve and hence, P will decrease.

before 4th stop, the value of (S-4) is least at S=1, and hence A in the above equation will be greatest. Remember S>0.

IMO, E. What's the OA?
please recheck the OA.

S=4 will give P=32.

S=1 will give P=44.

Or am I going wrong somewhere? any other takers?
Regards,
Harsha
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by newton9 » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:35 am
Can you please recheck the question..

IS is P = -2(S - 4)2 + 32 or P = -2(S - 4) ^ 2 + 32

If it is the second, then 4 will be the answer.
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by bhumika.k.shah » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:37 am
oops! sowree!
edited
newton9 wrote:Can you please recheck the question..

IS is P = -2(S - 4)2 + 32 or P = -2(S - 4) ^ 2 + 32

If it is the second, then 4 will be the answer.
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by gmatmachoman » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:50 am
harshavardhanc wrote:
bhumika.k.shah wrote:OA [spoiler]C=4[/spoiler]

harshavardhanc wrote:
bhumika.k.shah wrote:The number of passengers on a certain bus at any given time is given by the equation P = -2(S - 4)2 + 32, where P is the number of passengers and S is the number of stops the bus has made since beginning its route. If the bus begins its route with no passengers, what is the value of S when the bus has its greatest number of passengers?

9
6
4
2
1

MGMAT CAT

you can view the equation as P=A+32

after the 4th stop, A is always -ve and hence, P will decrease.

before 4th stop, the value of (S-4) is least at S=1, and hence A in the above equation will be greatest. Remember S>0.

IMO, E. What's the OA?
please recheck the OA.

S=4 will give P=32.

S=1 will give P=44.

Or am I going wrong somewhere? any other takers?
@harsha Bhai...

u r correct!! when i saw this one..same thought I had..and I was abt to ping Bhumika for clarification..by that time..she edited & resolved my doubts!

Thx...
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by el_torero » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:06 pm
the way i saw this this was noticed the term -2(s - 4)^2 is always negative, and only 0 when s = 4. which means the largest value of that term = 0 when s = 4. 32 is of course constant so the P(s) function achieves its maximum at s = 4.

just different wording than above, but through a different lens.
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by bhumika.k.shah » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:47 pm
Yea , your explanation is somewhat similar to MGMAT's explanation.
el_torero wrote:the way i saw this this was noticed the term -2(s - 4)^2 is always negative, and only 0 when s = 4. which means the largest value of that term = 0 when s = 4. 32 is of course constant so the P(s) function achieves its maximum at s = 4.

just different wording than above, but through a different lens.
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