BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Currency problem - GMAT Prep

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:43 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

Currency problem - GMAT Prep

by rahulvsd » Thu May 03, 2012 10:04 am
If 175 billion French Francs is equivalent to 35 billion United States dollars, which of the following expressions represents the number of USD equivalent to French Francs?

A. f - 140
B. 5f
C. 7f
D. f/5
E. f/7

[spoiler]OA: D. [/spoiler]
Last edited by rahulvsd on Fri May 04, 2012 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Top
Source: — Problem Solving |
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu May 03, 2012 10:52 am
rahulvsd wrote:If 175 billion French Francs is equivalent to 35 billion United States dollars, which of the following expressions represents the number of USD equivalent to French Francs?

A. f - 140
B. 5f
C. 7f
D. f/5
E. f/7

[spoiler]OA: B. [/spoiler]
175 billion French Francs is equivalent to 35 billion United States dollars.
175f = 35d

The problem asks for the number of USD equivalent to French Francs.
In other words:
How many US dollars are EQUAL IN VALUE to 1 French Franc?

Since 175f = 35d, f = (35/175)d = (1/5)d.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Fri May 04, 2012 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:43 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

by rahulvsd » Fri May 04, 2012 9:25 am
HI Mitch,

I got the same answer as you (B). But GMAT Prep says its D (f/5). This is a question from the extra questions package I purchased for $24
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1248
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 503 times
Followed by:192 members
GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri May 04, 2012 9:34 am
If 175 billion francs are equal to 35 billion dollars, then clearly each franc is only worth a fraction of a dollar.
Join Veritas Prep's 2010 Instructor of the Year, Matt Douglas for GMATT Mondays

Visit the Veritas Prep Blog

Try the FREE Veritas Prep Practice Test
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:43 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

by rahulvsd » Fri May 04, 2012 9:46 am
Bill,

Is there a mistake in the official source? How do we report this to the GMAC?
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1248
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 503 times
Followed by:192 members
GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri May 04, 2012 11:40 am
No, it's correct. It's the wording that's weird:

"...the number of USD equivalent to French Francs?"

In other words, how do we get from a certain number of francs to the equivalent number of dollars? Based on the numbers provided, we know that 175 billion francs are equivalent to 35 billion dollars. Thus, we can see that to go from 175 billion francs to 35 billion dollars, we must divide by 5, and from that we can determine dividing the number of francs (f) by 5 gives us the equivalent number of dollars.
Join Veritas Prep's 2010 Instructor of the Year, Matt Douglas for GMATT Mondays

Visit the Veritas Prep Blog

Try the FREE Veritas Prep Practice Test
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Fri May 04, 2012 12:39 pm
rahulvsd wrote:HI Mitch,

I got the same answer as you (B). But GMAT Prep says its D (f/5). This is a question from the extra questions package I purchased for $24
I've amended my post above. USD equilavalent to French Francs is the number of US dollars that is EQUAL IN VALUE to French Francs.
In other words, the EXCHANGE RATE: the number of US dollars that would be given in exchange for each French Franc.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 406
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
Location: Syracuse, NY
Thanked: 23 times
Followed by:4 members
GMAT Score:740

by tomada » Fri May 04, 2012 1:32 pm
Nothing is more fun than trying to solve an ambiguously worded problem.
I'm really old, but I'll never be too old to become more educated.
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1248
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 503 times
Followed by:192 members
GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Sun May 06, 2012 1:22 pm
tomada wrote:Nothing is more fun than trying to solve an ambiguously worded problem.
It's a good example of why we want to use the answer choices to guide our process.
Join Veritas Prep's 2010 Instructor of the Year, Matt Douglas for GMATT Mondays

Visit the Veritas Prep Blog

Try the FREE Veritas Prep Practice Test
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:08 pm
Followed by:1 members

by redng » Tue May 08, 2012 8:19 pm
175/35 = f/d
5 = f/d
5d = f
d = f/5

D
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1462
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:34 am
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 39 times
Followed by:22 members

by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:05 am
rahulvsd wrote:If 175 billion French Francs is equivalent to 35 billion United States dollars, which of the following expressions represents the number of USD equivalent to French Francs?

A. f - 140
B. 5f
C. 7f
D. f/5
E. f/7
We are given that 175 billion French francs = 35 billion United States dollars. We need to convert f francs to dollars. We can let x be the number of dollar that is equivalent to f francs and solve this problem using a proportion.

(175 billion)/(35 billion) = f/x

175/35 = f/x

175x = 35f

x = 35f/175

x = f/5

Answer: D

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

Image

See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:38 pm
Thanked: 14 times

by GMATWisdom » Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:32 am
rahulvsd wrote:If 175 billion French Francs is equivalent to 35 billion United States dollars, which of the following expressions represents the number of USD equivalent to French Francs?

A. f - 140
B. 5f
C. 7f
D. f/5
E. f/7

[spoiler]OA: D. [/spoiler]
clearly the weightage of Dollar is 5 times that of Franc
which means one DOLLAR is equal to 5 Franc
in other words the number of DOLLARS you would get against Franc would 1/5 the number of Francs
if "f" is the number of Francs then equilent number of Dollars would be " f/5 "
Hence D is the correct option.
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1