The youngest of 4 children has siblings who are 3, 5, and 8

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Vincen: Legendary Member; Posts: 2898; Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 2:49 pm; Thanked: 6 times; Followed by:5 members

The youngest of 4 children has siblings who are 3, 5, and 8

by Vincen » Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:59 am

The youngest of 4 children has siblings who are 3, 5, and 8 years older than she is. If the average (arithmetic mean) age of the 4 siblings is 21, what is the age of the youngest sibling?

A. 17
B. 18
C. 19
D. 21
E. 22

The OA is the option A.

Experts, how can determine the age of the youngest sibling without knowing any of their ages?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:59 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; Followed by:1268 members; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:11 am

Vincen wrote:The youngest of 4 children has siblings who are 3, 5, and 8 years older than she is. If the average (arithmetic mean) age of the 4 siblings is 21, what is the age of the youngest sibling?

A. 17
B. 18
C. 19
D. 21
E. 22

Let y = the age of the youngest child

So, y + 3 = age of sibling who is 3 years older than the youngest child
y + 5 = age of sibling who is 5 years older than the youngest child
y + 8 = age of sibling who is 8 years older than the youngest child

The average (arithmetic mean) age of the 4 siblings is 21
This means: [y + (y+3) + (y+5) + (y+8)]/4 = 21
Multiply both sides by 4 to get: y + (y+3) + (y+5) + (y+8) = 84
Simplify: 4y + 16 = 84
Solve: y = 17

Answer: A

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8086; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times; Followed by:29 members

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Sun Aug 04, 2019 10:29 am

Vincen wrote:The youngest of 4 children has siblings who are 3, 5, and 8 years older than she is. If the average (arithmetic mean) age of the 4 siblings is 21, what is the age of the youngest sibling?

A. 17
B. 18
C. 19
D. 21
E. 22

The OA is the option A.

Experts, how can determine the age of the youngest sibling without knowing any of their ages?

We can let x = the age of the youngest child; thus, the ages of the three older children are x + 3, x + 5 and x + 8, respectively. We can create the equation:

(x + x + 3 + x + 5 + x + 8)/4 = 21

4x + 16 = 84

4x = 68

x = 17

Answer: A

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