Katrina has a wheat business

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jaymw: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 144; Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:17 amFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 40 times; GMAT Score:760

by jaymw » Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:42 pm

I didn't find this question here when I used the search function, so I thought I'd post it:

Katrina has a wheat business. She purchases wheat from a local wholesaler at a particular cost per pound. The price of the wheat at her stores is 3$ per pound. Her faulty spring balance reads 0.9 pounds for a pound. Also, in the festival season, she gives a 10% discount on the wheat. She found that she made neither a profit nor a loss in the festival season. At what price did Katrina purchase the wheat from the wholesaler?

(A) 2.43
(B) 2.5
(C) 2.7
(D) 3
(E) 3.3

I'm posting this because I disagree with the OA and explanation in the GMAT math bible...

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:42 pm

kvcpk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1893; Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 11:48 pmFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 215 times

by kvcpk » Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:28 pm

jaymw wrote:I didn't find this question here when I used the search function, so I thought I'd post it:

Katrina has a wheat business. She purchases wheat from a local wholesaler at a particular cost per pound. The price of the wheat at her stores is 3$ per pound. Her faulty spring balance reads 0.9 pounds for a pound. Also, in the festival season, she gives a 10% discount on the wheat. She found that she made neither a profit nor a loss in the festival season. At what price did Katrina purchase the wheat from the wholesaler?

(A) 2.43
(B) 2.5
(C) 2.7
(D) 3
(E) 3.3

I'm posting this because I disagree with the OA and explanation in the GMAT math bible...

Is it A??

Used POE.

if the balance shows 0.9 pounds for 1 pound, Katrina should be in loss.
But, she is not in loss, that means the buying prie should be less than the selling price.
DE out.

she is selling at 10% discount.
which means selling price is 2.7
this cannot be buying price because it should still be less.
C out.

2.7 dollars per pound is the selling price.
2.43 dollars per 0.9 pounds

Hence she shold have bought the wheat at 2.43 dollars per pound.

Hope this helps!!

"Once you start working on something,
don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

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beat_gmat_09: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 437; Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:06 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: India; Thanked: 50 times; GMAT Score:580

by beat_gmat_09 » Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:37 pm

3$ per pound, discount 10%, selling price - 2.7$ per pound
Katrina's weight balance shows 0.9 instead of 1 pound, actually she should be in profit as 0.1 pound is saved, but she faces neither a loss neither profit. So price to sell = price to buy.
Price to sell = 2.7*0.9 for a pound = 2.43$

Hope is the dream of a man awake

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jaymw: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 144; Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:17 amFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 40 times; GMAT Score:760

by jaymw » Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:02 pm

Thanks! You both got the OA.

I'm still struggling with the following:

Katrina sells what she believes is 1 pound for 2.7$ during the festival season. Let's say she bought 9 pounds of wheat from the wholesaler. Strange as it sounds, with those 9 pounds she can sell 1pound ten times because of the skewed scales.

In the example, she bought 9 pounds at x$ from the wholesaler.
She sells 10 times what she believes is 1 pound, that means she gets 27$.

If she doesn't make a loss or a profit, her selling price equals her cost.

That translates to:

9x=27$
x=3$

What I am I missing here?

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jaymw: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 144; Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:17 amFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 40 times; GMAT Score:760

by jaymw » Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:06 pm

Haha now that I read it again, I found my mistake. Misread the sentence "reads 0.9 pounds for a pound" as "a pound for 0.9 pounds"...

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