At a certain carpet factory, if carpeting of width 10...

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BTGmoderatorLU: Moderator; Posts: 2505; Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:50 pm; Followed by:6 members

At a certain carpet factory, if carpeting of width 10...

by BTGmoderatorLU » Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:09 am

At a certain carpet factory, if carpeting of width 10 feet is moving continuously through a dryer at a constant speed of 2160 feet per hour, how many seconds does it take for an area of 1 square foot of carpeting to move through the dryer?

A) 1/6
B) 1/3
C) 6
D) 36
E) 60

The OA is A.

I'm confused by this PS question. Experts, any suggestion about how to solve it? Thanks in advance.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:09 am

EconomistGMATTutor: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 555; Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:18 pm; Thanked: 180 times; Followed by:12 members

by EconomistGMATTutor » Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:34 pm

At a certain carpet factory, if carpeting of width 10 feet is moving continuously through a dryer at a constant speed of 2160 feet per hour, how many seconds does it take for an area of 1 square foot of carpeting to move through the dryer?

A) 1/6
B) 1/3
C) 6
D) 36
E) 60

The OA is A.

I'm confused by this PS question. Experts, any suggestion about how to solve it? Thanks in advance.

Hi LUANDATO,
Let's take a look at your question.

Carpeting of width 10 feet is moving continuously through a dryer at a constant speed of 2160 feet per hour, therefore,
10 * 2160 = 21,600 sq ft of carpeting moved through the dryer in one hour.
We know that 1 hour = 3600 seconds, hence

To move through the dryer 21,600 sq ft of carpeting take = 3600 seconds
To move through the dryer 1 sq ft of carpeting take = 3600/21600 seconds = 36/216 = 1/6 seconds.

Therefore, Option A is correct.

Hope it helps.
I am available if you'd like any follow up.

GMAT Prep From The Economist
We offer 70+ point score improvement money back guarantee.
Our average student improves 98 points.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8083; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times; Followed by:29 members

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:38 am

LUANDATO wrote:At a certain carpet factory, if carpeting of width 10 feet is moving continuously through a dryer at a constant speed of 2160 feet per hour, how many seconds does it take for an area of 1 square foot of carpeting to move through the dryer?

A) 1/6
B) 1/3
C) 6
D) 36
E) 60

If the area of the carpet is 1 square foot, then the length of the carpet must be 1/10 foot since since the width is 10 feet. Therefore, we need to determine the number of seconds for the carpet of length 1/10 foot to pass through a dryer at a constant speed of 2160 feet per hour. Let's determine the speed in feet per second:

2160 ft / 1 hr = 2160 ft / 3600 sec = 36 ft / 60 sec = 3 ft / 5 sec

Now we can create a proportion where x = the number of seconds for the carpet of length 1/10 foot to pass through the dryer:

(1/10)/x = 3/5

3x = 1/2

x = 1/6

Answer: A

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
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