BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem
TTP OnDemand GMAT Video Course
Featured Course

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Scott Woodbury-Stewart’s private virtual classroom — 400 hours of master-class video lessons for the GMAT Focus Edition.

  • 715+ score guarantee — highest in the industry (99th percentile)
  • 52 chapters · 1,500+ lessons · 4,000+ practice questions
  • 400 hours of video · 1,500+ instructor-led HD smartboard lessons
  • 300,000+ students accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth & Sloan & more
  • 24/7 live support + weekly Zoom office hours with GMAT instructors
  • TTP AI Assist — 24/7 AI-powered virtual tutor for instant help
  • 1,200+ flashcards + AI-powered study assistant & daily calendar
  • OnDemand, LiveTeach & GMAT Bootcamp formats available
  • Also: GRE, SAT Math & Executive Assessment courses
  • MBA Admissions Consulting now available
  • 🏆 2025 EdTech Breakthrough Award: Test Prep Solution Provider of the Year
  • 200,000+ students served
  • 5-day free trial — $0 to start, no auto-billing, cancel anytime
★★★★★ 5.0 (559 reviews)
130-pt guarantee
$0 to start then $127/mo
Start Free 5-Day Trial Read 559 Reviews →

An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four

Expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Legendary Member
Posts: 1223
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2020 2:23 pmFollowed by: 1 member
by BTGModeratorVI » Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:44 pm

Timer

00:00

Answers

A

B

C

D

E

Stats

Difficulty—

An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four players, split into pairs. If any employee can be paired up with any other employee, then how many unique matchups result?

(A) 70
(B) 210
(C) 280
(D) 336
(E) 420

Answer: B
Source: Magoosh
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Problem Solving |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3008
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:19 amFollowed by: 34 members
Location: Grand Central / New York
Thanked: 470 times

Re: An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four

by Jay@ManhattanReview » Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:47 pm
BTGModeratorVI wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:44 pm
 An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four players, split into pairs. If any employee can be paired up with any other employee, then how many unique matchups result?

(A) 70
(B) 210
(C) 280
(D) 336
(E) 420

Answer: B
Source: Magoosh
Since there's no restriction on who can be part of the matchup, let's select one employee out of 8. Thus, there are 7 employees left for the 2nd player out of 4 players; similarly, there are 6 employees left for the 3rd player out of 4 players; and finally, there are 5 employees left for the 4th player out of 4 players.

Thus, # of unique matchups possible = 7*6*5 = 210.

The correct answer: B

Hope this helps!

-Jay
_________________
Manhattan Review

Locations: Manhattan Review Bangalore | GMAT Prep Chennai | GRE Prep Himayatnagar | Hyderabad GRE Coaching | and many more...

Schedule your free consultation with an experienced GMAT Prep Advisor! Click here.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 16207
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members
Location: Vancouver, BC
Thanked: 5254 times
GMAT Score:770

Re: An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:29 am
BTGModeratorVI wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:44 pm
 An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four players, split into pairs. If any employee can be paired up with any other employee, then how many unique matchups result?

(A) 70
(B) 210
(C) 280
(D) 336
(E) 420

Answer: B
Source: Magoosh
Take the task of creating a matchup and break it into stages.

Stage 1: Select 4 employees
Since the order in which we select the employees does not matter, we can use combinations.
We can select 4 employees from 8 employees in 8C5 ways (70 ways)
So, we can complete stage 1 in 70 ways

Stage 2: Divide the 4 selected employees into 2 teams
Let's say the 4 selected employees are A, B, C, D
A nice way to determine the number of ways to divide the 4 employees into 2 teams is to find a partner for one person.
For example, let's find a partner for employee A.
NOTE: once we choose a partner for employee A then, by default, the remaining two two employees will be paired together.
In how many ways can we select a partner for employee A? Well, A can be paired with B, C or D
So, we can complete stage 2 in 3 ways

ASIDE: The 3 pairings are:
AB vs CD
AC vs BD
AD vs BC

By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP), we can complete the 2 stages (and thus create a matchup) in (70)(3) ways (= 210 ways)

Answer: B

Note: the FCP can be used to solve the MAJORITY of counting questions on the GMAT. For more information about the FCP, watch this free video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... /video/775

You can also watch a demonstration of the FCP in action: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat ... /video/776

Then you can try solving the following questions:

EASY
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/what-should- ... 67256.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/counting-pro ... 44302.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/picking-a-5- ... 73110.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/permutation- ... 57412.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/simple-one-t270061.html


MEDIUM
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinatoric ... 73194.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/arabian-hors ... 50703.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/sub-sets-pro ... 73337.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinatoric ... 73180.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/digits-numbers-t270127.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/doubt-on-sep ... 71047.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinatoric ... 67079.html


DIFFICULT
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/wonderful-p- ... 71001.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/permutation- ... 73915.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/permutation-t122873.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/no-two-ladie ... 75661.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinations-t123249.html


Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Image
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 8156
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 amFollowed by: 29 members
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 43 times

Re: An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Tue Mar 17, 2020 9:15 am
BTGModeratorVI wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:44 pm
 An office comprised of eight employees is planning to have a foosball game. A matchup consists of four players, split into pairs. If any employee can be paired up with any other employee, then how many unique matchups result?

(A) 70
(B) 210
(C) 280
(D) 336
(E) 420

Answer: B
Source: Magoosh
First, we select the four players. The number of ways to choose 4 people from 8 is 8C4 = (8 x 7 x 6 x 5)/(4 x 3 x 2) = 2 x 7 x 5 = 70.

Next, we split the four selected players into pairs to form the matchups. Let’s call the individuals A, B, C, and D. There are 3 matchups for these four individuals:

AB vs. CD, AC vs. BD, and AD vs. BC

Since there are 70 ways to select 4 people and each selection has 3 ways of creating matchups, there are a total of 70 x 3 = 210 matchups.

Answer: B

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

Image

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

ImageImage
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1