Data Sufficiency

A wooden rod is cut into two pieces. What is the length of the longer piece?

(1) One of the pieces is 20 inches longer than the other piece.
(2) The length of the shorter piece is 1/3 the length of the longer piece.

I got C for this question. Shorter 10 and longer 30

didieravoaka wrote:A wooden rod is cut into two pieces. What is the length of the longer piece?

(1) One of the pieces is 20 inches longer than the other piece.
(2) The length of the shorter piece is 1/3 the length of the longer piece.

I got C for this question. Shorter 10 and longer 30

Yes, that's correct.

Let x equal the length of the longer rod. And y the length of the shorter rod.

Then x = y + 20 and y = x/3.

And by substitution, x = x/3 + 20. Solving for x, x = 30. Plugging this back into either equation, we find y = 10.

Fairly easy system of equations.

didieravoaka wrote:A wooden rod is cut into two pieces. What is the length of the longer piece?

(1) One of the pieces is 20 inches longer than the other piece.
(2) The length of the shorter piece is 1/3 the length of the longer piece.

I got C for this question. Shorter 10 and longer 30

Given: Rod is cut into 2 pieces
Required: Length of the longer piece

Statement 1: One of the pieces is 20 inches longer than the other piece
This statement does not tell us anything about the lengths of the pieces, just a relation between them
Insufficient

Statement 2:The length of the shorter piece is 1/3 the length of the longer piece.
In this case again, there is no information about the lengths of the pieces
Insufficient

Combining both statements:
From Statement 1 - Assume the pieces to be l and l + 20 in length.(We can solve this just by using one variable)
From statement 2 - l + 20 = 3l
Hence we have l = 10
Therefore the length of the longer piece = 20
Sufficient

Option C

Yes Rich, I was wondering whether I got it right.

didieravoaka wrote:Yes Rich, I was wondering whether I got it right.

There aren't answers for these questions? What a strange source!

Hi guys,

Sorry, I don't remember where I got this question. It might be VeritasPrep or GmatPrep.