Interest Problem

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Interest Problem

by vongdn » Tue Oct 05, 2010 9:23 pm
Robin split a total of $24,000 between two investments, X and Y. If investment Y earns 7% simple annual interest, how much did Robin put into investment Y?

(1) Each investment earns the same dollar amount of interest annually.
(2) Investment X earns 5% simple annual interest.


From the question I see that X + Y = 24000, so X = 24000 - Y and Y = 24000 - X
From (1) I can set the equation that (24000-x)(1.07) = (24000-y)(% interest of x) --> Since I don't know the interest of X investment, this is insufficient

From (2) I now know the interest of X, so (24000-x)(1.07) = (24000-y)(1.05). Is the correct approach then to solve for X, then plug the value of X in terms of Y into the X+Y = 24000 equation and solve for Y?

The answer is that both statements together are sufficient, i just want to make sure I solved it correctly.

I think sometimes I get confused when is it possible to be able to solve for an equation with two unknown variables.
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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by neerajkumar1_1 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 10:36 pm
yes u r right...
but u r unnecessarily complicating the problem with two many substitutions...

so from statement 1 we know

0.07 y = a/100 ( 24000 - y)

cant solve since we dont know a

statement 2 gives u that value of a

Hence together they are sufficient..

Side note: whenever u r solving for word problems... first highlight for urself what the question is asking, and what all values u need to solve the question.. . once u have done the initial work... u can solve the problem in a few seconds...