Jessica can text 85 words per minute, while Maurice can text

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ktrout2020: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 41; Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2019 1:10 pm

Jessica can text 85 words per minute, while Maurice can text

by ktrout2020 » Thu Oct 31, 2019 6:24 am

Jessica can text 85 words per minute, while Maurice can text 10 words per minute. An abridged English translation of Tolstoy's War and Peace contains 410,400 words. Working together, how many days will it take Jessica and Maurice to text the entire abridged translation of War and Peace?

A. 0.3
B. 1.3
C. 3
D. 9
E. 11.3

Source: Veritas Prep
Answer: C

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Thu Oct 31, 2019 6:24 am

deloitte247: Legendary Member; Posts: 2214; Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:22 pm; Followed by:5 members

edited:

by deloitte247 » Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:56 pm

Jessica = 85 wpm
Maurice = 10 wpm
Working together, the two of them will text 85+10 = 95 wpm
If they can text 95 words in 1 minute, it is the same thing as
$$95\ words\ in\ \frac{1}{60\min s\cdot24hours}=95\ words\ in\ \frac{1}{1440\ days}$$
Abridged English version of Tolstoy's War and Peace contains 410,400 words
If both partners can type 95 words in 1/1440 days
Then they will type 410,400 words in
$$\frac{\left(410400\ \cdot\frac{1}{1440}\right)}{95}days$$
$$=\frac{\left(\frac{410400\ }{1440}\right)}{95}days$$
$$=\frac{410400\ }{1440}\cdot\frac{1}{95}\ days$$
$$=\frac{410400\ }{136800}\ days\\ $$
$$=3\ days\ $$

Answer = option c

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Nov 02, 2019 5:05 am

ktrout2020 wrote:Jessica can text 85 words per minute, while Maurice can text 10 words per minute. An abridged English translation of Tolstoy's War and Peace contains 410,400 words. Working together, how many days will it take Jessica and Maurice to text the entire abridged translation of War and Peace?

A. 0.3
B. 1.3
C. 3
D. 9
E. 11.3

Since the answer choices are somewhat spread apart, we can probably use some estimation...

Jessica can text 85 words per minute, while Maurice can text 10 words per minute
So, COMBINED, they can text 95 words per minute
Let's round this up to 100 words per minute
So, the number of words PER HOUR = (100)(60) = 6000
And, the number of words PER DAY = (24)(6000) â‰ˆ (25)(6000) â‰ˆ 150,000

So, COMBINED, the two people can text approximately 150,000 words per day

Working together, how many days will it take Jessica and Maurice to text 410,400 words?
Time = output/rate
= 410,400/150,000
â‰ˆ3

Answer: C

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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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

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Sun Nov 03, 2019 7:32 pm

ktrout2020 wrote:Jessica can text 85 words per minute, while Maurice can text 10 words per minute. An abridged English translation of Tolstoy's War and Peace contains 410,400 words. Working together, how many days will it take Jessica and Maurice to text the entire abridged translation of War and Peace?

A. 0.3
B. 1.3
C. 3
D. 9
E. 11.3

Source: Veritas Prep
Answer: C

Together they can text 85 + 10 = 95 words per minute, which means they can text 95 x 60 = 5,700 words per hour. Therefore, if we let x = the number of hours it takes for them to text the entire abridged translation of War and Peace, we have:

5,700x = 410,400

x = 410,400/5,700

x = 72 hours

Assuming they work 24 hours a day, it will take them 72/24 = 3 days to text the entire abridged translation of War and Peace.

Answer: C

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