Live GMAT classes with Target Test Prep start Nov 21 and Nov 22. First class free.

See classes
Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards 2026 winner: Target Test Prep, #1 Test Prep

Target Test Prep was voted #1 Best Test Prep in the 2026 Newsweek Readers’ Choice™ Awards.

★★★★★5.0563 reviews
GMATLiveTeachStarts Nov 22
Josh Braslow, Target Test Prep GMAT expert
LIVE ONLINE CLASSES

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

with Josh Braslow, 20+ years in test prep

Nov 22 · Josh Braslow
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes + 6 months of TTP OnDemand
  • Attend the first class for free
  • Every class is recorded, so you never fall behind
View classes & enroll
Limited seats availableTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeachOnDemandStart anytime
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Self-paced EA prep. Study on your schedule.

EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

with

165+ EA score guarantee
$05-day trial no automatic billing
Schedule
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll Start free 5-day trial
Limited cohort · enrollment openTrial includes full course accessTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemandStart anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions
Start free 5-day trial
Read 563 reviewsTarget Test Prep

Question from Gmat Prep- Help please! 3

Expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Subscribe topic
Previous Topic Next Topic
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:12 pm
by bobdylan » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:21 pm
A certain city with a population of 132,000 is to be divided into 11 voting districts, and no district is to have a population that is more than 10 % greater than the population of any other district. What is the minimum population that the least populated district could have?
a)10,700
b)10,800
C) 10,900
d) 11,000
e) 11,100
Top
Join the discussion
Source: — Problem Solving |
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1248
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pmFollowed by: 192 members
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 503 times
GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:31 pm
If the population is distributed equally, then each district has 132,000/11 = 12,000 residents. Let's define x as the district with the lowest population. Since no other district can exceed x by more than 10%, we can set up the following equation:

x + 1.1(10x) = 132,000
12x = 132,000
x = 11,000
Join Veritas Prep’s 2010 Instructor of the Year, Matt Douglas for GMATT Mondays

Visit the Veritas Prep Blog

Try the FREE Veritas Prep Practice Test
Top
Join the discussion
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 58
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2011 7:44 pm
Location: Washington DC
Thanked: 1 times

by iwillsurvive101 » Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:57 pm
Bill

Can you please clarify your reasoning behind setting up this equation?

x + 1.1(10x) = 132,000

How did you get 1.1(10x) ?

I reasoned as follows:

- Apart from x, there are 10 other districts. Each of those districts can have 10% more population than x. So 10% x X 10 (10 percent of x times 10). I know this is not right.

Thanks
Top
Join the discussion

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3835
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pmFollowed by: 523 members
Location: Milpitas, CA
Thanked: 1854 times
GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:24 pm
bobdylan wrote:A certain city with a population of 132,000 is to be divided into 11 voting districts, and no district is to have a population that is more than 10 % greater than the population of any other district. What is the minimum population that the least populated district could have?
a)10,700
b)10,800
C) 10,900
d) 11,000
e) 11,100
Let us assume that the minimum possible population of the least populated district be P.

It is given that "no district is to have a population that is more than 10% greater than the population of any other district."

Then the population of 11 districts should be between P and (P + 10% of P) = 1.1P
Now we have minimize P. For this we should make only one district to have minimum possible population and the remaining 10 districts should have maximum possible population.
So, P + (10 * 1.1P) = 132,000
12P = 132,000
P = 11,000

The correct answer is D.
Anurag Mairal, Ph.D., MBA
GMAT Expert, Admissions and Career Guidance
Gurome, Inc.
1-800-566-4043 (USA)

Join Our Facebook Groups
GMAT with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/272466352793633/
Admissions with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/461459690536574/
Career Advising with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/360435787349781/
Top
Join the discussion
User avatar
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 » Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:00 pm
A certain city with a population of 132,000 is to be divided into 11 voting districts, and no district is to have a population that is more than 10 percent greater than the population of any other district. What is the minimum possible population that the least populated district could have?

(A) 10,700

(B) 10,800

(C) 10,900

(D) 11,000

(E) 11,100
An alternate approach is to plug in the answer choices, which represent the minimum possible population.

To MINIMIZE the smallest population, we need to MAXIMIZE the other 10 populations.
Thus, each of the other 10 districts must have the maximum allowed population: 10% greater than the smallest population.
Since the total population of the city is 132,000 -- a multiple of 1,000 -- the correct answer choice is almost certainly a multiple of 1,000.

Answer choice D: 11,000.
Each of the other 10 districts = (132,000 - 11,000)/10 = 12,100.
Difference between the populations = 12,100 - 11,000 = 1100, which is 10% of the smallest population.
Success!

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
Top
Join the discussion
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 298
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:09 amFollowed by: 1 member
Thanked: 2 times

by Deepthi Subbu » Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:01 am
Let x be the cities with maximum population. So for a city to have the least population, let me maximise x and also assume it is the same for all 10 cities.

So, 10(x) + .9(x) = 132000.

Whats wrong with my approach ?
Top
Join the discussion
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:32 pmFollowed by: 119 members
Location: East Bay all the way
Thanked: 625 times
GMAT Score:780

by Matt@VeritasPrep » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:13 am
Deepthi Subbu wrote:Let x be the cities with maximum population. So for a city to have the least population, let me maximise x and also assume it is the same for all 10 cities.

So, 10(x) + .9(x) = 132000.

Whats wrong with my approach ?
Your logic isn't bad, but that equation won't give us an integer, so we have to go another way.

Let's take it from the top:

Given our restrictions, we have two ways of setting up the problem. We could say the other districts are all x, and the smallest district is 10% less, or .9x. Or we could say the smallest district is x, and the other districts are 10% greater, or 1.1x.

That gives us two choices of equation:

10x + .9x = 132,000

or

x + 10*(1.1x) = 132,000

So we have either 10.9x = 132,000 or 12x = 132,000. While the first equation does give us a smaller value for the population of the least populated district, it doesn't give us an integer value, so we have to throw it out and use the second equation.
Top
Join the discussion

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10391
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:52 pm
Hi Deepthi Subbu,

Certain Quant questions have built in shortcuts IF the answer choices are numbers and if certain other conditions are met. In the EMPOWERgmat Course, we call this tactic TEST THE ANSWERS.

We have 5 answers that are numbers here, so I'm going to use them against the question to figure out the correct answer.

Logically, when a GMAT question asks you to figure out the LEAST or GREATEST value of something, then there are going to be restrictions on how the values will relate to one another. Here we have 11 cities; to make one as SMALL as possible, I'd think to make all of the others as LARGE as possible.

The answers:
10,700
10,800
10,900
11,000
11,100

Statistically, it's best to TEST either B or D first. D seems like an easier number to manipulate, so I'll TEST that one first.

IF the least city = 11,000
Then 10% greater would be 12,100
IF the other 10 cities are 12,100 each, then they would sum to 121,000
Add in the least city: 121,000 + 11,000 = 132,000

Since all the math that I've done matches the data that I was given....

Final Answer: D

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Join the discussion