Beth received 3/10 of the votes cast in a certain election. What fraction of the other votes cast would she have needed in order to have received 1/2 of the votes cast?
(A) 1/5
(B) 2/7
(C) 3/10
(D) 7/20
(E) 1/2
Isn't that answer should be 1/5? Can some one please explain how answer could be 2/7?
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Beth received 3/10 of the votes cast in a certain election. What fraction of the other votes cast would she have needed in order to have received 1/2 of the votes cast?
(A) 1/5
(B) 2/7
(C) 3/10
(D) 7/20
(E) 1/2
Discussed in an earlier thread...however, here it goes
If total votes cast were x. Beth received 3x/10
Beth needs 2x/10 more votes to have 5x/10 or 1/2 of the total number of votes
Remaining votes = x-3x/10 = 7x/10
So fraction = (2x/10)/(7x/10)
=2/7
Hence B
(A) 1/5
(B) 2/7
(C) 3/10
(D) 7/20
(E) 1/2
Discussed in an earlier thread...however, here it goes
If total votes cast were x. Beth received 3x/10
Beth needs 2x/10 more votes to have 5x/10 or 1/2 of the total number of votes
Remaining votes = x-3x/10 = 7x/10
So fraction = (2x/10)/(7x/10)
=2/7
Hence B
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What am I doing wrong here:
beth received 3/10 votes remaining 1- (3/10) = 7/10.
let x be the required fraction to make it 1/2
so 7/10 - x = 1/2
so x = 7/10 -1/2 = 1/5
my answer is 1/5
to verify if we add votes received by beth 3/10 + 1/5 = 1/2
beth received 3/10 votes remaining 1- (3/10) = 7/10.
let x be the required fraction to make it 1/2
so 7/10 - x = 1/2
so x = 7/10 -1/2 = 1/5
my answer is 1/5
to verify if we add votes received by beth 3/10 + 1/5 = 1/2
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That's assign a "nice" value to the total number of votes cast.gmatme wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:13 amBeth received 3/10 of the votes cast in a certain election. What fraction of the other votes cast would she have needed in order to have received 1/2 of the votes cast?
(A) 1/5
(B) 2/7
(C) 3/10
(D) 7/20
(E) 1/2
Isn't that answer should be 1/5? Can some one please explain how answer could be 2/7?
We'll choose a number that works well with the given information.
Let's say that a total of 10 votes were cast.
Beth received 3/10 of the votes cast in a certain election
3/10 of 10 = 3.
So, Beth received 3 votes
What fraction of the OTHER votes cast would she have needed in order to have received 1/2 of the votes cast?
Receiving 1/2 of the votes would require Beth to get a total of 5 votes.
In other words, Beth would have needed 2 additional votes among the 7 people who didn't vote for her
Answer: 2/7 = B
Cheers,
Brent