plants, herbs, and shrubs only

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sanju09: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3650; Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:27 amFollowed by: 80 members; Location: India; Thanked: 267 times; GMAT Score:760

by sanju09 » Fri Apr 03, 2015 4:02 am

A flower garden is designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs, and shrubs only. If 40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition, and 16 percent of the composition is shrubs, what is the percent of herbs in the composition?
A. 40%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 60%
E. 70%

Made Up!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Fri Apr 03, 2015 4:02 am

Uva@90: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 490; Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:30 amFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 83 times

by Uva@90 » Fri Apr 03, 2015 5:28 am

sanju09 wrote:A flower garden is designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs, and shrubs only. If 40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition, and 16 percent of the composition is shrubs, what is the percent of herbs in the composition?
A. 40%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 60%
E. 70%

Made Up!

Hi Sanju,

Is OA D

Regards,
Uva.

Known is a drop Unknown is an Ocean

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:22 am

sanju09 wrote:A flower garden is designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs, and shrubs only. If 40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition, and 16 percent of the composition is shrubs, what is the percent of herbs in the composition?
A. 40%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 60%
E. 70%

Let h = the PERCENT of the vegetation that are herbs

40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition
So, 0.4h = PERCENT of the vegetation that are plants

16 percent of the composition is shrubs
So, 16 = the PERCENT of the vegetation that are shrubs

Since all 3 types must add to 100, we can write: h + 0.4h + 16 = 100
Simplify: 1.4h + 16 = 100
We get: 1.4h = 84
Solve: h = 60

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:29 am

sanju09 wrote:A flower garden is designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs, and shrubs only. If 40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition, and 16 percent of the composition is shrubs, what is the percent of herbs in the composition?
A. 40%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 60%
E. 70%

Another option is to TEST each answer choice.
Let's start in the MIDDLE

Answer choice C
Herbs make up 50% of the vegetation.
So, plants make up 40% of 50% of the vegetation. In other words, plants make up 20% of the vegetation.
We're told that shrubs make up 16% of the vegetation.
ADD them to get: 50% + 20% + 16% = 86% Doesn't work; we need 100%

NOTE: Since our total was LESS THAN 100%, we need herbs to make up MORE THAN 50% of the vegetation. So, let's try D.

Answer choice D
Herbs make up 60% of the vegetation.
So, plants make up 40% of 60% of the vegetation. In other words, plants make up 24% of the vegetation.
We're told that shrubs make up 16% of the vegetation.
ADD them to get: 60% + 24% + 16% = 100% PERFECT!

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:44 am

sanju09 wrote:A flower garden is designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs, and shrubs only. If 40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition, and 16 percent of the composition is shrubs, what is the percent of herbs in the composition?
A. 40%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 60%
E. 70%

Since the shrubs constitute 16% of the garden, the herbs and plants together constitute the remaining 84% of the garden.

40 percent of the herbs' percent is the percent of plants in the composition.
Thus, if there are 100 herbs, then the number of plants = 40% of 100 = 40.
Implied ratio:
herbs : plants = 100:40 = 5:2 = (5*12) : (2*12) = 60:24.
Thus, herbs = 60% and plants = 24%, for a total of 84%.

The correct answer is D.

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sanju09: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3650; Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:27 amFollowed by: 80 members; Location: India; Thanked: 267 times; GMAT Score:760

by sanju09 » Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:23 am

Uva@90 wrote:
sanju09 wrote:A flower garden is designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs, and shrubs only. If 40 percent of the herbs' percent in the composition is the percent of plants in the composition, and 16 percent of the composition is shrubs, what is the percent of herbs in the composition?
A. 40%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 60%
E. 70%

Made Up!
Hi Sanju,

Is OA D

Regards,
Uva.

Yes Uva, it's (D) indeed. Seen some great explanations too.

Regards

The mind is everything. What you think you become. -Lord Buddha

Sanjeev K Saxena
Quantitative Instructor
The Princeton Review - Manya Abroad
Lucknow-226001

www.manyagroup.com

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