Problem Solving

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Problem Solving

by mbaonly » Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:05 pm
If 30 percent of the members of a certain organization are women and 3/8 of the members of the organization are married men, which of the following statements concerning the membership must be true?

I. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of married men in the organization.

II. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.

III. The number of married men in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.


a. None
b. I only
c. II only
d. III only
e. I and III

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by theCEO » Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:24 pm
30% * members = women ------------- (3/10)x = w = (12/40)x
(3/8) * members = married men------ (3/8)x = mm = (15/40)x

1. no of women in organization is not greater than the number of married men in the organization.

2. missing group = (40/40)x - ((12/40)x + (15/40)x ) = (13/40)x.
Number of unmarried men can be anywhere from 0 to (13/40)x. The answer may or may not be greater than (12/40)x.

3) missing group = (40/40)x - ((12/40)x + (15/40)x ) = (13/40)x.
Number of unmarried men can be anywhere from 0 to (13/40)x which is always less than (15/40)x.
Therefore this is correct.


answer = d
Last edited by theCEO on Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:14 am, edited 3 times in total.

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by mbaonly » Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:31 pm
The OA is not 'A'.

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by eagleeye » Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:56 pm
mbaonly wrote:If 30 percent of the members of a certain organization are women and 3/8 of the members of the organization are married men, which of the following statements concerning the membership must be true?

I. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of married men in the organization.

II. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.

III. The number of married men in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.


a. None
b. I only
c. II only
d. III only
e. I and III
Let there be 1000 members.

Now 30% are women = 300 women (30% of 1000 = 300)
So the rest are men , so no. of men = 700 (70% of 1000 = 700)
3/8 are married men = 375 (3/8 of 1000= 3/8*1000 = 375)
So unmarried men = 700-375 = 325.

Now let's look at the options:
I. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of married men in the organization.
300 is not greater than 375. NO.

II. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.
300 is not greater than 325 either. NO.

III. The number of married men in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.
375 is greater than 325. CORRECT.

[spoiler]Answer is III only (D)[/spoiler]

By the way, theCEO wrote the OA as D as well.

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by theCEO » Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:40 am
eagleeye wrote:
mbaonly wrote:If 30 percent of the members of a certain organization are women and 3/8 of the members of the organization are married men, which of the following statements concerning the membership must be true?

I. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of married men in the organization.

II. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.

III. The number of married men in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.


a. None
b. I only
c. II only
d. III only
e. I and III
Let there be 1000 members.

Now 30% are women = 300 women (30% of 1000 = 300)
So the rest are men , so no. of men = 700 (70% of 1000 = 700)
3/8 are married men = 375 (3/8 of 1000= 3/8*1000 = 375)
So unmarried men = 700-375 = 325.

Now let's look at the options:
I. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of married men in the organization.
300 is not greater than 375. NO.

II. The number of women in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.
300 is not greater than 325 either. NO.

III. The number of married men in the organization is greater than the number of unmarried men in the organization.
375 is greater than 325. CORRECT.

[spoiler]Answer is III only (D)[/spoiler]

By the way, theCEO wrote the OA as D as well.
Hi eagleeye,

Can we really assume that 70% of the group is men? :)
What if the organization was divided into men, women, boys, girls

Also the same thing applies for unmarried men :)

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by eagleeye » Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:54 am
theCEO wrote:
Hi eagleeye,

Can we really assume that 70% of the group is men? :)
What if the organization was divided into men, women, boys, girls

Also the same thing applies for unmarried men :)
theCEO, you bring up a really good point.

There are a couple of ways one could interpret this one:
1. Men and women are polar opposites, hence anyone who is not a woman is a man.
2. Men and women are just two entities in the larger universe of men, women, boys and girls etc.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) both interpretations lead to the same answer. I am too close to the problem to call this one in either interpretation's favor. Let's get more members/experts to chime in on the issue.

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by Testluv » Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:23 pm
On the GMAT, the question would have specified that the organization is comprised of only adult males and females.

Because we're working with 3/8, picking a multiple of 8 to represent the total is a good way to go here.

80 ppl.

30% are female, so that's 24 women, leaving 56 men.

3/8 of the organization is married men. 3/8 of 80 is 30.

So, of these 56 men, 30 are married, and 26 are unmarried.

So, we have:

24 women;
30 married men; and,
26 unmarried men.

From there, it's a snap :)
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