Running at the same constant rate, 6 identical machines...

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swerve: Legendary Member; Posts: 2499; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pm; Followed by:6 members

Running at the same constant rate, 6 identical machines...

by swerve » Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:09 am

Running at the same constant rate, 6 identical machines can produce a total of 270 bottles per minute. At this rate, how many bottles could 10 such machines produce in 4 minutes?

(A) 648
(B) 1,800
(C) 2,700
(D) 10,800
(E) 64,800

The OA is B.

Please, can any expert explain this PS question for me? I don't understand why that is the correct answer. Thanks.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:09 am

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; Followed by:511 members; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:17 am

Hi swerve,

We're told that 6 identical machines can produce a total of 270 bottles per minute. We're asked for the number of bottles that 10 such machines would produce in 4 minutes when working at this same rate. Since this is just a big 'rate' question, you can approach the math in a couple of different ways. From the information in the first sentence, since 6 divides evenly into 270, you could figure out the rate/minute for 1 machine...

270/6 = 45 bottles/minute for 1 machine

Since we have 10 machines working for 4 minutes each, that would give us...

(10)(4)(45) = 1800 bottles

Final Answer: B

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8086; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times; Followed by:29 members

Re: Running at the same constant rate, 6 identical machines...

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Thu Apr 02, 2020 10:19 am

swerve wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:09 am
Running at the same constant rate, 6 identical machines can produce a total of 270 bottles per minute. At this rate, how many bottles could 10 such machines produce in 4 minutes?

(A) 648
(B) 1,800
(C) 2,700
(D) 10,800
(E) 64,800

The OA is B.

Please, can any expert explain this PS question for me? I don't understand why that is the correct answer. Thanks.

We can create the following proportion, where x = the number of bottles 10 machines can produce in a minute:

6/270 = 10/x

6x = 2700

x = 450

Thus we see that 10 machines can produce 450 bottles per minute and thus they can produce 450 x 4 = 1,800 bottles in 4 minutes.

Answer: B

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