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Maria can either buy a basket that contains P pounds of

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Maria can either buy a basket that contains P pounds of

by BTGmoderatorDC » Fri May 10, 2019 4:50 pm

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Maria can either buy a basket that contains P pounds of apples for $16.50 or buy p pounds of apples at $0.95 per pound. Doe it cost Maria more to buy the basket of apples than to buy p pounds of apples at $0.95 per pound?

(1) The basket contains less than 20 pounds of apples
(2) It would cost maria a total of $18.05 to buy p+4 pounds of apples at $0.95 per pound.

OA B

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by Ian Stewart » Mon May 13, 2019 4:43 am

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The basket costs $16.50, and the p pounds of apples cost $0.95p. We want to know which of those figures is larger.

Statement 1 is irrelevant, since we don't care how many apples are in the basket -- we already know the basket costs $16.50. What we need is information about the p pounds of apples.

Statement 2 tells us what Maria spends if she buys 4 more pounds of apples than she actually bought. Buying 4 pounds of apples will cost (4)(0.95) = 4 - 0.20 = 3.80, so if she bought p+4 pounds of apples, she'd spend exactly $3.80 more than she'll spend buying p pounds of apples. If p+4 pounds will cost her $18.05, then p pounds will cost her $14.25 (18.05 - 3.80). So the basket is more expensive, and Statement 2 is sufficient, and the answer is B.

Of course, the actual calculation of the cost of the p pounds of apples here is unnecessary in DS, as long as you can see that the calculation will lead to a number.
For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

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by deloitte247 » Fri May 17, 2019 6:26 am

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Statement 1: The basket contains less than 20 pounds of apples - this implies that the total pounds of apple in the basket could be any value between 0 and 20. Moreover, the value of P is unknown and the cost cannot be compared. Hence, statement 1 is INSUFFICIENT

Statement 2: It will cost Maria a total of $18.05 to buy p+4 pounds of apple at $0.95 per pound.
Total pounds = p+4
Price per pound = $0.95
Total cost = (Price per pound) * (total pound)
where the total cost = $18.05

So, $18.05 = $0.95 * (p+4)
18.05 = 0.95p + 3.8
18.05 - 3.8 =0.95p
p = 14.25/0.95 = 15 pounds

15 pounds of apple at $0.95 = 0.95 * 15 = $14.25
Basket of apple = $16.50.

It cost more to buy a basket of apple than to buy p-pound of apple (15) at $0.95 per pound. Hence, statement 2 is SUFFICIENT.

Statement 2 alone is sufficient. Thus, the correct answer is Option B
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