A Problem with the question

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TeddyBonham: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 7; Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:21 am

by TeddyBonham » Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:37 am

in a garden 1/3 of the purple flowers equals to 1/6 of the total number of flowers. 1/4 of the blue flowers equals to 1/7 of the total number of flowers.
what is the ratio between the purple flowers and the blue ones?

isn't it a problem that half are purple and more than half are blue? that means that there must be some blue purple flowers and that's not indicated as a possibility. the question implies that blue is only blue, and purple is only purple.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:37 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sat Mar 28, 2015 3:43 am

TeddyBonham wrote:in a garden 1/3 of the purple flowers equals to 1/6 of the total number of flowers. 1/4 of the blue flowers equals to 1/7 of the total number of flowers.
what is the ratio between the purple flowers and the blue ones?

isn't it a problem that half are purple and more than half are blue? that means that there must be some blue purple flowers and that's not indicated as a possibility. the question implies that blue is only blue, and purple is only purple.

1/3 of the purple flowers equals to 1/6 of the total number of flowers.
P/3 = T/6.
P = (1/2)T.

1/4 of the blue flowers equals to 1/7 of the total number of flowers.
B/4 = T/7.
B = (4/7)T.

Implication:
The purple flowers constitute half of the total, while the blue flowers constitute MORE THAN HALF of the total.
Not possible, unless 1/14 of the blue flowers are also purple.

The problem is flawed.
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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Sat Mar 28, 2015 3:40 pm

You're right - this question is nonsense. Please always post the source of the question, especially if you think it's flawed! That way you'll help other students to avoid flawed material.

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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TeddyBonham: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 7; Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:21 am

by TeddyBonham » Sat Mar 28, 2015 3:59 pm

i don't know the source. my sister gave it to me. thank you anyway

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