Peter went to the store to buy paint. Small cans cost $30 and larger cans cost $80. How many small cans of paint did he buy?
Statement #1: Peter spent $220 on paint.
Statement #2: Peter bought four cans of paint in total.
The OA is A.
Can any expert give me some help here? I don't know how to solve this PS question. Thanks in advanced.
Peter went to the store to buy paint
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Hi Vincen,
We're told that Peter went to the store to buy paint. Small cans cost $30 and larger cans cost $80. We're asked for the number of small cans of paint he bought.
1) Peter spent $220 on paint.
Since $220 is a relatively small total, we can 'brute force' the possible solutions by TESTing VALUES.
Could there be....
0 large cans... $220 is NOT divisible by $30, so 0 large cans is NOT possible.
1 large can... $140 is NOT divisible by $30, so 1 large can is NOT possible.
2 large cans... $60 IS divisible by $30 - and the answer to the question would be 2.
3 large cans would cost $240 - which is higher than the $220 total, so 3 large cans is NOT possible.
Thus, there is only 1 answer (2 small cans).
Fact 1 is SUFFICIENT
2) Peter bought four cans of paint in total.
With the information in Fact 2, Peter could have bought from 0 - 4 small cans (inclusive) of paint.
Fact 2 is INSUFFICIENT
Final Answer: A
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
We're told that Peter went to the store to buy paint. Small cans cost $30 and larger cans cost $80. We're asked for the number of small cans of paint he bought.
1) Peter spent $220 on paint.
Since $220 is a relatively small total, we can 'brute force' the possible solutions by TESTing VALUES.
Could there be....
0 large cans... $220 is NOT divisible by $30, so 0 large cans is NOT possible.
1 large can... $140 is NOT divisible by $30, so 1 large can is NOT possible.
2 large cans... $60 IS divisible by $30 - and the answer to the question would be 2.
3 large cans would cost $240 - which is higher than the $220 total, so 3 large cans is NOT possible.
Thus, there is only 1 answer (2 small cans).
Fact 1 is SUFFICIENT
2) Peter bought four cans of paint in total.
With the information in Fact 2, Peter could have bought from 0 - 4 small cans (inclusive) of paint.
Fact 2 is INSUFFICIENT
Final Answer: A
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich