If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater than 3 times the original number of

[M7MBA]

If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater than 3 times the original number of marbles. What is the greatest possible number of marbles that were in the jar originally?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6

Answer: C

Source: GMAT Prep

[PhillipZhang87]

x+9 = 3x
x = 4.5
Therefore x < 4.5 so that it's over 3x the original marble so answer is C.
Alternatively, you could just add 9 to the solutions and find the lowest answer that is three times the original solution.

[Scott@TargetTestPrep]

If 9 marbles were added to a jar of marbles, the number of marbles would be greater than 3 times the original number of marbles. What is the greatest possible number of marbles that were in the jar originally?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6

Answer: C

Solution:

Let x be the number of marbles originally in the jar. We can create the following inequality:

9 + x > 3x

9 > 2x

4.5 > x

Since x < 4.5 and x is an integer, the greatest possible value of x is 4.

Answer: C