Age calculation

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shashank.ism: Legendary Member; Posts: 1022; Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:49 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Gandhinagar; Thanked: 41 times

by shashank.ism » Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:13 am

Queen Rudalfina died 181 years after Queen Nadali was born. Their combined
age when they died was 72 years. Queen Nadali died in 315 A.D. In what
year was Queen Rudalfina born?

a.) 349 A.D.
b.) 496 A.D.
c.) 387 A.D.
d.) 424 A.D.
e.) None of these.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:13 am

zudecj: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:07 am

by zudecj » Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:29 am

Queen Rudalfina died 181 years after Queen Nadali was born. Their combined
age when they died was 72 years. Queen Nadali died in 315 A.D. In what
year was Queen Rudalfina born?

Answer D)

Rudalfina(death)= nadali(birth)+ 181
Rudalfina(death)+nadali(death)=72

hence, substituting -

72-nadali(death) =nadali(birth) +181

nadali(birth)-nadali(death) =181-72=109 (Nadali lived for 109 years)

Hence if nadali was died in 315 AD ( Remember you need to add instead of subtract since its AD)

315+109 = 424 AD.

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ajith: Legendary Member; Posts: 1275; Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:13 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Arabian Sea; Thanked: 125 times

by ajith » Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:29 am

shashank.ism wrote:Queen Rudalfina died 181 years after Queen Nadali was born. Their combined
age when they died was 72 years. Queen Nadali died in 315 A.D. In what
year was Queen Rudalfina born?

a.) 349 A.D.
b.) 496 A.D.
c.) 387 A.D.
d.) 424 A.D.
e.) None of these.

Combined age when they died - I do not understand

Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back.

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zudecj: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:07 am

by zudecj » Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:42 am

Combined age when they died - I do not understand

That just tells us the sum of their ages when they died.

for an absurd example : Rudalfina (70 years old when dead) +nadali( 2 years old when dead) =72

That statement was represented in algebra in the following form :
Rudalfina(death)+nadali(death)=72

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ajith: Legendary Member; Posts: 1275; Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:13 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Arabian Sea; Thanked: 125 times

by ajith » Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:47 am

zudecj wrote:
nadali(birth)-nadali(death) =181-72=109 (Nadali lived for 109 years)

The first quote is from the solution you provided it shows Nadali lived for 109 years

Rudalfina (70 years old when dead) +nadali( 2 years old when dead) =72

now, was Nadali 2 years when she died? or did she live for 109 long years?

zudecj wrote: That just tells us the sum of their ages when they died.

for an absurd example : Rudalfina (70 years old when dead) +nadali( 2 years old when dead) =72

That statement was represented in algebra in the following form :
Rudalfina(death)+nadali(death)=72

Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back.

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harsh.champ: Legendary Member; Posts: 1132; Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:38 amFollowed by: 6 members; Location: India; Thanked: 64 times; GMAT Score:760

by harsh.champ » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:05 pm

ajith wrote:
zudecj wrote:
nadali(birth)-nadali(death) =181-72=109 (Nadali lived for 109 years)

The first quote is from the solution you provided it shows Nadali lived for 109 years

Rudalfina (70 years old when dead) +nadali( 2 years old when dead) =72

now, was Nadali 2 years when she died? or did she live for 109 long years?

zudecj wrote: That just tells us the sum of their ages when they died.

for an absurd example : Rudalfina (70 years old when dead) +nadali( 2 years old when dead) =72

That statement was represented in algebra in the following form :
Rudalfina(death)+nadali(death)=72

_______________________
I do agree with ajith.Initially,I thought that the meaning of "combined age" is the total no. of years that they lived together.
But couldn't get to forming any equations.
The phrasing of the question is quite confusing.
Hey zudecj,
I see that you have solved the question.Can you rephrase the question in a manner that we can easily understand??

Help would be really appreciated!!

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zudecj: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:07 am

by zudecj » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:11 pm

Rudalfina (70 years old when dead) +nadali( 2 years old when dead) =72

AS mentioned, this was just an "absurb" example to make the understanding clear, but i do now realize that their combined age coudnt have been 72 if the answer were D.

And hence the answer is not D.

Apologies for the confusion.

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