Last year, the price of a jar of peanut butter at a certain

This topic has expert replies
Moderator
Posts: 2237
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:08 pm
Followed by:2 members

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Veritas Prep

Last year, the price of a jar of peanut butter at a certain store was \(P\) dollars and the price of a jar of jelly at the same store was \(J\) dollars, where \(J=2P\). This year, the price of peanut butter increased by 20% and the price of jelly decreased by 20%. If a customer purchases one jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly this year and receives a 25% discount, which of the following represents the amount that he paid, in terms of \(P\)?

A. \(3\frac{P}{2}\)

B. \(17\frac{P}{10}\)

C. \(19\frac{P}{10}\)

D. \(21\frac{P}{10}\)

E. \(11\frac{P}{5}\)

OA D

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed May 29, 2019 5:25 am
AAPL wrote:Veritas Prep

Last year, the price of a jar of peanut butter at a certain store was \(P\) dollars and the price of a jar of jelly at the same store was \(J\) dollars, where \(J=2P\). This year, the price of peanut butter increased by 20% and the price of jelly decreased by 20%. If a customer purchases one jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly this year and receives a 25% discount, which of the following represents the amount that he paid, in terms of \(P\)?

A. \(3\frac{P}{2}\)

B. \(17\frac{P}{10}\)

C. \(19\frac{P}{10}\)

D. \(21\frac{P}{10}\)

E. \(11\frac{P}{5}\)
The price of a jar of peanut butter at a certain store was P dollars and the price of a jar of jelly at the same store was J dollars, where J=2P.
Let P = 10 and J = 20

This year, the price of peanut butter increased by 20% and the price of jelly decreased by 20%
New P = 10 + (20% of 10) = 10 + 2 = 12
New J = 20 - (20% of 20) = 20 - 4 = 16

A customer purchases one jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly this year and receives a 25% discount.
Before the discount:
New P + New J = 12 + 16 = 28
After the discount:
28 - (25% of 28) = 28 - 7 = 21

Which of the following represents the amount that he paid, in terms of P?
The correct answer must yield $21 when P=10.
Only D works:
21P/10 = (21*10)/10 = 21.

The correct answer is D.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

Legendary Member
Posts: 2218
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pm
Followed by:6 members

by swerve » Thu May 30, 2019 5:35 pm
Let \(P=100\), thus \(J=200\), last year.

So this year \(P = 120\) (20% increase), and \(J = 160\) (20% decrease). Price paid this year by customer \(= 120+160 = 280\).

But after 25% discount, price \(=\) 75% of 280 \(= \frac{3}{4} \cdot 280 = 210\).

So we have to look for an option where if we put \(P=100\), we should get an answer as '210'.

Hence, __D__ is the correct answer.

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1462
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:34 am
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 39 times
Followed by:22 members

by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Sat Jun 01, 2019 5:19 am
AAPL wrote:Veritas Prep

Last year, the price of a jar of peanut butter at a certain store was \(P\) dollars and the price of a jar of jelly at the same store was \(J\) dollars, where \(J=2P\). This year, the price of peanut butter increased by 20% and the price of jelly decreased by 20%. If a customer purchases one jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly this year and receives a 25% discount, which of the following represents the amount that he paid, in terms of \(P\)?

A. \(3\frac{P}{2}\)

B. \(17\frac{P}{10}\)

C. \(19\frac{P}{10}\)

D. \(21\frac{P}{10}\)

E. \(11\frac{P}{5}\)

OA D
We are given that last year, the price of a jar of peanut butter at a certain store was P dollars, and the price of a jar of jelly at the same store was J dollars, where J = 2P.

This year the peanut butter price increased by 20%, so the new price is 1.2P.

Since the price of jelly decreased by 20%, the new price is 0.8J = 0.8(2P) = 1.6P.

Thus, the regular price of one jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly is 1.2P + 1.6P = 2.8P.

Thus, at a 25% discount, the price is 0.75(2.8P) = 2.1P = 21P/10

Answer: D

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

Image

See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews