At the Trenchard Oaks apartment complex, a two-bedroom apart

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At the Trenchard Oaks apartment complex, a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment. If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for x months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. What is x ?

A. 6
B. 8
C. 9
D. 10
E. 18

OA B

Source: Veritas Prep

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:35 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:At the Trenchard Oaks apartment complex, a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment. If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for x months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. What is x ?

A. 6
B. 8
C. 9
D. 10
E. 18
Let the monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment = $2, implying that the monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment = 2 + (50% of 2) = 2 + 1 = $3.
Since the monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment = $2, the total amount required to rent a one-bedroom apartment for 12 months = 2*12 = 24.

If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for x months, it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. What is x?
Since the monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment = $3, the total number of months that can be purchased for $24 = 24/3 = 8.

The correct answer is B.
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by fskilnik@GMATH » Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:10 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:At the Trenchard Oaks apartment complex, a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment. If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for x months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. What is x ?

A. 6
B. 8
C. 9
D. 10
E. 18
Source: Veritas Prep
$$? = x$$

Trivial application of UNITS CONTROL, one of the most powerful tools of our method:

$$\left. \matrix{
{\rm{one - bed}}\,\,\,:\,\,\,\,{{\$ \,\,2d} \over {1\,\,{\rm{month}}\,}}\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\, \to \,\,\,\,\,\,12\,\,{\rm{months}}\,\,\,\left( {{{\$ \,\,2d} \over {1\,\,{\rm{month}}\,}}} \right)\,\,\, = \,\,\,\$ \,\,24d\,\,\,\,\, \hfill \cr
{\rm{two - bed}}\,\,:\,\,\,{{\$ \,\,3d} \over {\,1\,\,{\rm{month}}\,}}\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\, \to \,\,\,\,\,\,x\,\,{\rm{months}}\,\,\,\left( {{{\$ \,\,3d} \over {1\,\,{\rm{month}}\,}}} \right)\,\,\, = \,\,\,\$ \,\,3xd \hfill \cr} \right\}\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathop \Rightarrow \limits^{{\rm{stem}}} \,\,\,\,\,\,\,24d = 3xd\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathop \Rightarrow \limits^{d\,\, \ne \,\,0} \,\,\,\,\,\,\,? = x = 8$$

This solution follows the notations and rationale taught in the GMATH method.

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:25 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:At the Trenchard Oaks apartment complex, a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment. If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for x months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. What is x ?

A. 6
B. 8
C. 9
D. 10
E. 18

OA B

Source: Veritas Prep
A fast and easy approach is to assign a "nice" value to the monthly rent of a ONE-bedroom apartment.
Let's say the rent on a ONE-bedroom apartment is $100 per month

A two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment
50% of $100 = $50
So, the rent on a TWO-bedroom unit = $100 + $50 = $150 per month

If Alex were to rent a TWO-bedroom apartment for x months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months
At $150 per month for x months, the TOTAL rent for a TWO-bedroom apartment = 150x
At $100 per month for 12 months, the TOTAL rent for a ONE-bedroom apartment = 1200 dollars

So, we can write: 150x = 1200
So, x = 1200/15 = 8

Answer: B

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Answer

by [email protected] » Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:35 am
Hi All,

We're told that a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment. If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for X months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. We're asked for the value of X. This question can be solved in a couple of different ways. TESTing VALUES works really well; it can also be solved by TESTing THE ANSWERS.

Since a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more than a one-bedroom apartment, we need to find a value for X that, when increased by 50%, equals 12. Since a 50% increase is NOT the same as DOUBLING a value, we can eliminate Answer A. Let's TEST Answer B first.

Answer B: 8 months
IF... X = 8, then 50% MORE than 8 would be (1.5)(8) = 12
This is an exact match for what we were told, so this must be the answer.

Final Answer: B

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by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:37 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:At the Trenchard Oaks apartment complex, a two-bedroom apartment costs 50% more to rent than a one-bedroom apartment. If Alex were to rent a two-bedroom apartment for x months it would cost him the same amount as it would to rent a one-bedroom for 12 months. What is x ?

A. 6
B. 8
C. 9
D. 10
E. 18

OA B

Source: Veritas Prep
We can let the cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment per month = n. Therefore, the cost for a two-bedroom apartment per month = 1.5n; thus:

1.5nx = 12n

1.5x = 12

x = 8

Answer: B

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