OG2016: 150 is what percent of

150 is what percent of 30?

A) 5%
B) 20%
C) 50%
D) 200%
E) 500%

The test-makers sometimes like to use different (and tricky) kinds of wording for some percent questions. To be 100% sure of your answer, it might be easiest to PLUG IN the answer choices.
So, we have 150 is __% of 30

Now TEST the answers.
A) 150 is 5% of 30? No... 5% of 30 is 1.5
B) 150 is 10% of 30? No... 10% of 30 is 3
C) 150 is 50% of 30? No... 50% of 30 is 15
D) 150 is 200% of 30? No... 200% of 30 is 60
E) 150 is 500% of 30? YES! 500% of 30 is 150

Answer: E

Cheers,
Brent

Hi boomgoesthegmat,

The answer choices to this question are so 'spread out' that you can use a bit of 'brute force' math and some logic to get to the correct answer relatively quickly.

The question asks us what percent of 30 is 150....

Well, 100% of 30 is 30, so we're clearly looking for a larger percent than 100%.

200% of 30 is 60, but we're asked to find a percent that equals 150, so we need one that's far greater than 200%.

There's only one answer left...

Final Answer: E

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

boomgoesthegmat wrote:150 is what percent of 30?

A) 5%
B) 20%
C) 50%
D) 200%
E) 500%

We note that 150 is 150/30 = 5 times 30; which corresponds to 500% of 30.

Answer: E