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length

by didieravoaka » Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:52 pm
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

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by [email protected] » Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:40 pm
Hi didieravoaka,

Do you have a question about this prompt?

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by 800_or_bust » Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:52 pm
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.
800 or bust!

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by OptimusPrep » Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:03 pm
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

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by didieravoaka » Thu Apr 14, 2016 6:32 am
Yes Rich, I was wondering whether I got it right.

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by [email protected] » Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:49 am
Hi didieravoaka,

Yes, you absolutely DID answer it correctly. What is the source of this question? Didn't it include the correct answer (and an explanation?)?

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by Matt@VeritasPrep » Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:24 pm
didieravoaka wrote:Yes Rich, I was wondering whether I got it right.
There aren't answers for these questions? What a strange source! :)

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by didieravoaka » Sat May 14, 2016 10:49 am
Hi guys,

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