## Statistics Data Sufficiency

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### Statistics Data Sufficiency

by Amrabdelnaby » Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:40 am

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

## Global Stats

Beginning in January of last year, Carl made deposits of $120 into his account on the 15th of each month for several consecutive months and then made withdrawals of$50 from the account on the 15th of each of the remaining months of last year. There were no other transactions in the account last year. If the closing balance of Carl's account for May of last year was 2,600, what was the range of the monthly closing balances of Carl's account last year?

1- Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for April was less than $2,625 2- Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for June was less than$2,675

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:15 am
Beginning in January of last year, Carl made deposits
of $120 into his account on the 15th of each month for several consecutive months and then made withdrawals of$50 from the account on the 15th of
each of the remaining months of last year. There were
no other transactions in the account last year. If the
closing balance of Carl's account for May of last year
was $2,600, what was the range of the monthly closing balances of Carl's account last year? (1) Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for April was less than$2,625.
(2) Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for June was less than $2,675. May = 2600. Statement 1: Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for April was less than$2,625.

If 120 was deposited in May, then April = 2600-120 = 2480.
If 50 was withdrawn in May, then April = 2600+50 = 2650.
Since April < 2625, we know that a deposit of 120 was made in May, implying that 120 was deposited every month January through at least May.
Thus, we can determine the balance of every month January - April:
April = 2480, March = 2480-120 = 2360, etc.
No information about June - December.
Insufficient.

Statement 2: Last year the closing balance of Carl's account
for June was less than $2,675. If 120 was deposited in June, then June = 2600+120 = 2720. If 50 was withdrawn in June, then June = 2600-50 = 2550. Since June < 2675, we know that a withdrawal of 50 was made in June, implying that 50 was withdrawn every month June - December. Thus, we can determine the balance of every month June - December: June = 2550, July = 2550-50 = 2500, etc. No information about January - April. Insufficient. Statements 1 and 2 combined: Statement 1 tells us the closing balances January - April. The question stem tells us the closing balance in May. Statement 2 tells us the closing balances June - December. Combining the information above, we can determine the closing balance of every month and determine the range for the whole year. Sufficient. The correct answer is C. Mitch Hunt Private Tutor for the GMAT and GRE [email protected] If you find one of my posts helpful, please take a moment to click on the "UPVOTE" icon. Available for tutoring in NYC and long-distance. For more information, please email me at [email protected]. Student Review #1 Student Review #2 Student Review #3 ### GMAT/MBA Expert GMAT Instructor Posts: 15735 Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Thanked: 5254 times Followed by:1266 members GMAT Score:770 by [email protected] » Mon Nov 16, 2015 7:36 am Beginning in January of last year, Carl made deposits of$120 into his account on the 15th of each month for several consecutive months and then made withdrawals of $50 from the account on the 15th of each of the remaining months of last year. There were no other transactions in the account last year. If the closing balance of Carl's account for May of last year was$2,600, what was the range of the monthly closing balances of Carl's account last year?

(1) Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for April was less than $2,625 (2) Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for June was less than$2,675
Target question: What was the range of the monthly closing balances of Carl's account last year?

Given: The closing balance of Carl's account for May of last year was $2,600 IMPORTANT: To answer the target question we need only determine which month Carl STARTED withdrawing money. For example, if he started withdrawing money on March 15, we could use the fact that he had$2600 at the end of May to determine how much he had in the bank every month of the year, and thus determine the range of closing balances.
Notice that, since this is a Data Sufficiency, we need not calculate the actual range. We need only determine which month the deposits stopped and the withdrawals started.

So, we can rephrase our target question as . . .

REPHRASED target question: In which month did Carl start withdrawing $50? Statement 1: Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for April was less than$2,625
Let's examine two cases:
case a: In May, Carl DEPOSITED $120. So, balance at end of April =$2600 - $120 =$2480. This is possible, since we're told that the balance is less than $2625 case b: In May, Carl WITHDREW$50. So, balance at end of April = $2600 +$50 = $2650. This is NOT possible, since we're told that the balance is less than$2625
So, Carl definitely deposited $120 in May (and deposited$120 in April, March, Feb, and Jan).
However, we don't know the first month that Carl started withdrawing $50 Since we cannot answer the REPHRASED target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT Statement 2: Last year the closing balance of Carl's account for June was less than$2,675.
Let's examine two cases:
case a: In June, Carl DEPOSITED $120. So, balance at end of June =$2600 + $120 =$2720. This is NOT possible, since we're told that the balance is less than $2675 case b: In June, Carl WITHDREW$50. So, balance at end of June = $2600 -$50 = $2550. This is possible, since we're told that the balance is less than$2675
So, Carl definitely withdrew $50 in June, which means he also withdrew$50 in July, August, Sept, etc. However, we don't know the FIRST month that Carl started withdrawing $50 Since we cannot answer the REPHRASED target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT Statements 1 and 2 combined Statement 1 tells us that Carl deposited$120 in May.
Statement 2 tells us that Carl withdrew $50 in June. So, June was the first month that Carl started withdrawing$50
Since we can answer the REPHRASED target question with certainty, the combined statements are SUFFICIENT

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Brent
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by [email protected] » Mon Nov 16, 2015 10:45 am
You will find this pdf helpful:
Attachments
OG 13 DS 143.pdf