Problem Solving

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:Source: GMAT Paper Tests

A computer programmer needs to print 148 documents. The documents have an average (arithmetic mean) length of 10 pages and the printer takes 15 seconds to print each page. Approximately how many hours will it take to print all the documents if they are printed without interruptions?

A. \(\frac{1}{2}\) hr
B. \(2\) hr
C. \(2 \frac{1}{2}\) hr
D. \(6\) hr
E. \(24\) hr

The OA is D

We can also answer this question using a step-by-step approach based on number sense.

IMPORTANT: The word approximately typically suggests that we can be somewhat aggressive with our estimation

There are 148 documents and the documents have an average length of 10 pages
So, the TOTAL number of pages to print = (148)(10) = 1480 ≈ 1500

The printer takes 15 seconds to print 1 page
This means the printer takes 60 seconds to print 4 pages
In other words, the printer takes 1 MINUTE to print 4 pages
So, the printer takes 60 MINUTES to print 250 pages
In other words, the printer takes 1 HOUR to print 250 pages
So, the printer takes 2 HOURS to print 500 pages
So, the printer takes 6 HOURS to print 1500 pages

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:Source: GMAT Paper Tests

A computer programmer needs to print 148 documents. The documents have an average (arithmetic mean) length of 10 pages and the printer takes 15 seconds to print each page. Approximately how many hours will it take to print all the documents if they are printed without interruptions?

A. \(\frac{1}{2}\) hr
B. \(2\) hr
C. \(2 \frac{1}{2}\) hr
D. \(6\) hr
E. \(24\) hr

The OA is D

It will take (148 x 10) x 15 = 1480 x 15 seconds to complete printing all the documents. We convert seconds to hours (3600 seconds in one hour), obtaining:

(1480 x 15)/3600 = (148 x 15)/360 = 148/24 ≈ 6 hours

Answer: D