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If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater

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If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater

by BTGModeratorVI » Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:20 am

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If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater than 3 times the original number of marbles. What is the greatest possible number of marbles that were in the jar originally?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6

Answer: C
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Re: If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:54 am
BTGModeratorVI wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:20 am
 If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater than 3 times the original number of marbles. What is the greatest possible number of marbles that were in the jar originally?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6

Answer: C
Source: GMAT prep
If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles....
Let x = the ORIGINAL number of marbles in the jar
So, x + 9 = the NEW number of marbles in the jar

..., the number of marbles would be greater than 3 times the original number of marbles
In other words: (the NEW number of marbles in the jar) > 3(the ORIGINAL number of marbles in the jar)
In other words: x + 9 > 3x
Subtract x from both sides of the inequality to get: 9 > 2x
Divide both sides by 2 to get: 4.5 > x
In other words, the ORIGINAL number of marbles is less than 4.5

What is the greatest possible number of marbles that were in the jar originally?
4 is the biggest integer value that's less than 4.5

Answer: C

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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