If the ratio of w to x to y is 1 : 2 : 3, what is the value

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by Ian Stewart » Sun Aug 11, 2019 7:43 am

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BTGmoderatorDC wrote:If the ratio of w to x to y is 1 : 2 : 3, what is the value of w + x?

(1) x - w = 5

(2) 3y - 2w = 35

OA D

Source: Magoosh

Using Statement 1, if w and x differ by 1 in the ratio, but differ by 5 in actuality, then our actual numbers must be 5 times bigger than the numbers in the ratio, so w, x and y are 5, 10 and 15 respectively, and Statement 1 is sufficient.

Statement 2 is sufficient for essentially the same reason, but you can see it's sufficient algebraically too: from the ratio, y = 3w, so we can substitute for y in the equation in Statement 2, solve for w (you find w = 5), then find the rest of our numbers. So the answer is D.

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swerve: Legendary Member; Posts: 2499; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pm; Followed by:6 members

by swerve » Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:50 am

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Option 1: \(\frac{w}{x} = \frac{1}{2}\) , hence \(x = 2w\). Substitute in statementt 1, one gets the answer. SUFFICIENT \(\color{green}\checkmark\)

Option 2: \(\frac{y}{w}\) is given. Substitute in statement 2, one gets the answer. SUFFICIENT \(\color{green}\checkmark\)

Therefore, __D__.

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