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Is Profit greater than 150,000?

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by abhasjha » Sat Nov 23, 2013 7:52 am
A construction company was paid a total of $500,000 for a construction project. The company's only costs for the project were for labor and materials. Was the company's profit for the project greater than 150,000?

(1) The company's total cost was three times its cost for materials.
(2) The company's profit was greater than its cost for labor.
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Source: — Data Sufficiency |

by Uva@90 » Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:18 am
Given: C= L+M
To Find: P = 500,000 - C > 150,000?

Statement 1 :
C = 3M
500,000 - 3M
Nothing about M is mentioned.Hence Insufficient.

Statement 2 :
P>L => 500,000 - C > L => 500,000 - (L+M) >L => 500,000 > 2L+M
Again Insufficient.

1+2:
C= L+M =3M => L=2M
500,000 > 2L+M => 500,000 >5M => M <100,000
So C <300,000

Hence 500,000 - C will always be greater than 150,000.

Answer is C

Regards,
Uva.
Known is a drop Unknown is an Ocean
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Nov 23, 2013 4:07 pm
abhasjha wrote:A construction company was paid a total of $500,000 for a construction project. The company's only costs for the project were for labor and materials. Was the company's profit for the project greater than 150,000?

(1) The company's total cost was three times its cost for materials.
(2) The company's profit was greater than its cost for labor.
Let L = Labor, M = Materials.
Total Cost = L+M.

To make the math easier, let the revenue = 500.

Profit = Revenue - Cost = 500 - (L+M).

For the profit to be greater than 150:
500 - (L+M) > 150.
L + M < 350.

Question rephrased: Is L+M < 350?

Statement 1: Total Cost=3M.
L+M = 3M
L=2M.
No way to determine whether L+M<350.
Insufficient.

Statement 2: The profit was greater than its cost for labor.
500 - (L+M) > L
500 - L - M > L
2L+M < 500.
No way to determine whether L+M<350.

Statements 1 and 2 combined: L=2M and 2L+M<500.
Substituting L=2M into 2L+M<500, we get:
2(2M) + M < 500.
5M < 500.
M < 100.

Since M<100, and Total Cost=3M, we know that Total Cost < 300.
Sufficient.

The correct answer is C.
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