If the number of red marbles is three . . . .

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VJesus12: Legendary Member; Posts: 2276; Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:10 am; Followed by:3 members

If the number of red marbles is three . . . .

by VJesus12 » Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:15 am

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If the number of red marbles is three times the number of green marbles in a bowl of marbles with only two colors of marbles, what is the ratio of the green marbles to all the marbles?

A. 1 : 3
B. 1 : 4
C. 3 : 4
D. 3 : 1
E. 4 : 1

The OA is B.

Why is B? Shouldn't it be A? I got confused.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:15 am

DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; Followed by:128 members; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:14 am

VJesus12 wrote:If the number of red marbles is three times the number of green marbles in a bowl of marbles with only two colors of marbles, what is the ratio of the green marbles to all the marbles?

A. 1 : 3
B. 1 : 4
C. 3 : 4
D. 3 : 1
E. 4 : 1

The OA is B.

Why is B? Shouldn't it be A? I got confused.

If there are 3 times as many red marbles as green marbles, then we can designate the red marbles as 3x and the green marbles as x.

Red marbles: 3x
Green marbles: x
Total: 4x

Ratio of Green: Total = x:4x = 1:4.. The answer is B ('A' would be the ratio of Green:Red not Green:Total)

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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 » Tue Sep 24, 2019 10:23 am

VJesus12 wrote:If the number of red marbles is three times the number of green marbles in a bowl of marbles with only two colors of marbles, what is the ratio of the green marbles to all the marbles?

A. 1 : 3
B. 1 : 4
C. 3 : 4
D. 3 : 1
E. 4 : 1

The OA is B.

Why is B? Shouldn't it be A? I got confused.

The ratio of red to green marbles is 3 : 1, so the ratio of green to total is 1 : (3 + 1) = 1 : 4.

Answer: B

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