Problem Solving

Hi AAPL,

We're told that Chauncy recieved 1,618 votes which equaled approximately 20 percent of the vote. We're asked for the approximate percent of the REMAINING votes he would have needed to receive in order to win 30 percent of the total votes. This question can be solved with Arithmetic and some 'rounding' (since the question uses the word 'approximately').

If approximately 1600 votes = 20% of the total votes, then...
800 votes = approximately 10% of the total votes.

With 1600 votes cast, there were approximately 8000 total votes; thus there were 8000 - 1600 = 6400 additional votes besides the ones that Chauncy received.

To end up with 30% of the total votes cast, Chauncy would need an additional 800 of the 6400 votes cast:
800/6400 = 8/64 = 1/8 = 12.5%

Final Answer: B

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

AAPL wrote:Chauncy, an English bulldog, recieved 1,618 votes in the Mr. Bulldog USA competition, giving him approximately 20 percent of the vote. Approximately what percent of the remaining votes would he have needed to receive in order to win 30 percent of the total votes?

A. 10%
B. 12.5%
C. 15%
D. 17.5%
E. 20%

If Chauncy has already won approximately 20 percent of the votes, then he would need 10 more percent of the votes to win 30 percent of the total votes. However, here we are speaking in terms of the remaining votes, i.e., the remaining 80 percent of the votes.

Since 10/80 = 1/8 = 12.5%, then he needs 12.5% of the remaining 80 percent of the votes in order to get the 10 more percent of the total votes, i.e., a total of 30 percent of all the votes.

Alternate Solution:

Assume 100 people are voting. Chauncy has already won 20%, or 20, of the votes, which means that 80 votes remain. Chauncy needs 10 more votes out of those 80 remaining votes, so he needs 10/80 = 1/8, or about 12.5% of the remaining votes.

Answer: B