Two stores

[talaangoshtari]

Two stores usually charge the same regular price for identical jars of peanut butter. This week, Store A is offering the jars of peanut butter for 10% less than regular price, and Store B is offering 6 jars of peanut butter for the regular price of 5. If 6 jars of peanut butter cost a total of $1.18 less at Store B than at Store A this week, what is the regular price of a jar of peanut butter?

A. $2.15
B. $2.95
C. $3.75
D. $4.05
E. $4.65

[MartyMurray]

Store A Discount: 10% Off, or 1/10 Off

Store B Discount: Effectively Store B is offering a discount of 1/6 Off, as you can get six jars for 5/6 of the normal price.

Difference In Discounts = 1/6 - 1/10 = 10/60 - 6/60 = 4/60

So 1.18 = 4/60 of the original price of 6 jars of peanut butter

1.18/6 = slightly less than .20. So slightly less than .20 = 4/60 or 1/15 of the price of a jar of peanut butter.

The original price = slightly less than .20 x 15 = slightly less than 3.00.

The correct answer is B.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Two stores usually charge the same regular price for identical jars of peanut butter. This week, Store A is offering the jars of peanut butter for 10% less than regular price, and Store B is offering 6 jars of peanut butter for the regular price of 5. If 6 jars of peanut butter cost a total of $1.18 less at Store B than at Store A this week, what is the regular price of a jar of peanut butter?

A. $2.15
B. $2.95
C. $3.75
D. $4.05
E. $4.65

Store B is offering 6 jars of peanut butter for the regular price of 5
So, we can say that the price of each jar is reduced by 1/6
1/6 ≈ 17% (close enough anyway)

Store A is offering a 10% reduction.

The DIFFERENCE in discounts = 17% - 10% = 7%

6 JARS of peanut butter cost a total of $1.18 less at Store B than at Store A this week
So, 1 JAR of peanut butter costs approximately $0.20 less at Store B than at Store A

So, that 7% difference accounts for the $0.20 price difference.
In other words, 7% of the price for 1 JAR of peanut butter = $0.20
So, (7/100)(price of 1 jar) = 0.20
Solve to get: price of 1 jar = (0.20)(100/7) = 20/7 = slightly less than 3

Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent

[[email protected]]

Hi talaangoshtari,

This question can be solved algebraically. Since the question has just one variable, we can write everything in terms of that one variable.

X = the regular price of a jar of peanut butter

Based on the information in the prompt, 6 jars of peanut butter would cost:

(6)(.9)(X) = 5.4X at Store A

(5)(X) = 5X at Store B

We're told that those 6 jars cost $1.18 less at store B, so we can combine all of this information into one big equation:

5.4X - 1.18 = 5X

Then do a few algebra steps to simplify:

.4X = 1.18
4X = 11.8

From this, you can see that X must be a little less than $3 (if you wanted to do a few more math steps, then you'd get 2.95 exactly).

Final Answer: B

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

[GMATGuruNY]

Two stores usually charge the same regular price for identical jars of peanut butter. This week, Store A is offering the jars of peanut butter for 10% less than regular price, and Store B is offering 6 jars of peanut butter for the regular price of 5. If 6 jars of peanut butter cost a total of $1.18 less at Store B than at Store A this week, what is the regular price of a jar of peanut butter?

A. $2.15
B. $2.95
C. $3.75
D. $4.05
E. $4.65

Let the regular price of a jar of peanut butter = 5 cents, implying that the cost for 6 jars at the regular price = 6*5 = 30 cents.

Since Store A discounts the price by 10%, the discounted price at Store A = (30 cents) - (10% of 30 cents) = 30-3 = 27 cents.
Since Store B charges for only 5 jars, the discounted price at Store B = the price for 5 jars = 5*5 = 25 cents.
Price difference = 27-25 = 2 cents.

Since the actual price difference is 118 cents -- and 118/2 = 59 -- all of the values above must be increased by a factor of 59.
Thus, the actual regular price must be 59 times the value in blue:
(59)(5) = 295 cents = $2.95.

The correct answer is B.

[Matt@VeritasPrep]

I'd put it in words first, then translate that to an equation.

Six of ((A's Normal Price) - 10%) = Five of B's Normal Price + 1.18

6 * (90% of x) = 5x + 1.18

5.4x = 5x + 1.18

.4x = 1.18

4x = 11.8

x = 2.95