In a two-pound box of nuts and bolts that costs $2.34...

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BTGmoderatorLU: Moderator; Posts: 2558; Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:50 pmFollowed by: 6 members

by BTGmoderatorLU » Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:57 pm

In a two-pound box of nuts and bolts that costs $2.34, the nuts cost 96 cents per pound when purchased separately and the weight in the box due to bolts is equal to the weight due to nuts. How much will two pounds of bolts cost separately?

A. $2.76
B. $1.92
C. $1.59
D. $1.41
E. $1.38

The OA is A.

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

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:57 pm

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

by EconomistGMATTutor » Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:34 pm

In a two-pound box of nuts and bolts that costs $2.34, the nuts cost 96 cents per pound when purchased separately and the weight in the box due to bolts is equal to the weight due to nuts. How much will two pounds of bolts cost separately?

A. $2.76
B. $1.92
C. $1.59
D. $1.41
E. $1.38

The OA is A.

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

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

A two pound box of nuts and bolts cost $2.34.

The statement says that the weight in the box due to bolts is equal to the weight due to nuts, which means that the weight of nuts is equal to the weight of bolts.
So a 2 pound box will contain 1 pound of nuts and 1 pound of bolts.

The nuts cost 96 cents per pound when purchased separately.

So to find the cost of bolts in the box, we need to subtract the cost of nuts from the total cost of two-pound box.
Cost of 1 pound bolts = $2.34 - $0.96 = $1.38

We are asked to find "How much will two pounds of bolts cost separately? "
Cost of 2 pounds bolts = 2 * (1.38) = $2.76

Therefore, Option A is correct.

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

GMAT Prep From The Economist
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Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8157; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 amFollowed by: 29 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Sun Jul 28, 2019 9:25 am

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:In a two-pound box of nuts and bolts that costs $2.34, the nuts cost 96 cents per pound when purchased separately and the weight in the box due to bolts is equal to the weight due to nuts. How much will two pounds of bolts cost separately?

A. $2.76
B. $1.92
C. $1.59
D. $1.41
E. $1.38

The OA is A.

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

We are given that two pounds of nuts and bolts cost $2.34, and the nuts and the bolts are equal in weight in this mixture; in other words, we have one pound of nuts and one pound of bolts. Since nuts cost $0.96 per pound, bolts cost $2.34 - $0.96 = $1.38 per pound. Two pounds of bolts will cost $1.38 x 2 = $2.76.

Answer: A

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

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