Word Problems

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Word Problems

by swerve » Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:18 pm
Jaime earned enough money by selling seashells at 25 cents each to buy several used paperback books at 55 cents each. If he spent all of the money he earned selling seashells to buy the books, what is the least number of seashells he could have sold?

A. 5
B. 11
C. 17
D. 25
E. 30

The OA is B

Source: GMAT Paper Tests
Source: — Problem Solving |

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Re: Word Problems

by Jay@ManhattanReview » Mon Feb 17, 2020 3:16 am
swerve wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:18 pm
Jaime earned enough money by selling seashells at 25 cents each to buy several used paperback books at 55 cents each. If he spent all of the money he earned selling seashells to buy the books, what is the least number of seashells he could have sold?

A. 5
B. 11
C. 17
D. 25
E. 30

The OA is B

Source: GMAT Paper Tests
Say Jamie sold x seashells and bought y paperback books.

Thus, 25x = 55y

=> 5x = 11y. Since x and y are positive integers, 5 and 11 are co-prime, x must be a multiple of 11; thus, the minimum value of x = 11.

The correct answer: B

Hope this helps!

-Jay
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