A salesman makes a 20 percent commission on the selling

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swerve: Legendary Member; Posts: 2535; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pmFollowed by: 6 members

by swerve » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:18 am

A salesman makes a 20 percent commission on the selling price of each set of encyclopedias he sells. If he sells 12 identical sets of encyclopedias and makes $1800 in commissions, what is the selling price of each set?

A. $300
B. $600
C. $750
D. $900
E. $1080

The OA is C

Source: GMAT Paper Tests

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:18 am

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

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:30 am

swerve wrote:A salesman makes a 20 percent commission on the selling price of each set of encyclopedias he sells. If he sells 12 identical sets of encyclopedias and makes $1800 in commissions, what is the selling price of each set?

A. $300
B. $600
C. $750
D. $900
E. $1080

The OA is C

Source: GMAT Paper Tests

Let x = the selling price of ONE set of encyclopedias
So, 12x = the TOTAL price of 12 sets of encyclopedias

If the commission is 20%, then the salesman's commission = 20% of 12x
If the salesmen receives $1800 in commissions, we can write: 20% of 12x = $1800
Rewrite as: (0.2)(12x) = $1800

We COULD evaluate (0.2)(12) to get 2.4, but I'd rather not have to divide 1800 by 2.4
Instead, here's what I'd do to speed up the calculations (in my head).

Take: (0.2)(12x) = $1800
Divide both sides by 12 to get: (0.2)(x) = $150
Rewrite 0.2 as 1/5 to get: (1/5)x = $150
Multiply both sides by 5 to get: x = $750

Answer: C

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8139; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 amFollowed by: 29 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:48 pm

swerve wrote:A salesman makes a 20 percent commission on the selling price of each set of encyclopedias he sells. If he sells 12 identical sets of encyclopedias and makes $1800 in commissions, what is the selling price of each set?

A. $300
B. $600
C. $750
D. $900
E. $1080

The OA is C

Source: GMAT Paper Tests

Letting n = the selling price of one set of encyclopedias, we can create the equation:

0.2(12n) = 1800

2.4n = 1800

n = 750

Answer: C

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

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