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

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BTGmoderatorDC: Moderator; Posts: 7187; Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:43 pmFollowed by: 23 members

by BTGmoderatorDC » Sun Aug 11, 2019 3:22 am

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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

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Sun Aug 11, 2019 3:22 am

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Ian Stewart: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2623; Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:17 amFollowed by: 355 members; Location: Montreal; Thanked: 1090 times; GMAT Score:780

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

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.

For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

ianstewartgmat.com

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swerve: Legendary Member; Posts: 2539; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pmFollowed by: 6 members

by swerve » Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:50 am

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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