word problem

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Gurpinder: Legendary Member; Posts: 659; Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:12 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 32 times

by Gurpinder » Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:48 am

Alfred and Nick cooked a total of 49 pies. If twice the number of pies that alfred cooked was 14 pies more than the number of pies that nick cooked, how many pies did alfred cook?

please explain your approach!!

"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."
- Alfred A. Montapert, Philosopher.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Quantitative Reasoning | Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:48 am

vineeshp: Legendary Member; Posts: 965; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:52 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 156 times; GMAT Score:720

by vineeshp » Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:59 am

pies cooked by Alfred : a and by NIck: n

eq 1:
a + n = 49

eq 2:
2a = n + 14
-> n = 2a -14

Sub in eq 1.
a + 2a -14 = 49
3a = 14 + 49 = 63
a = 21.

Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert.

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vineeshp: Legendary Member; Posts: 965; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:52 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 156 times; GMAT Score:720

by vineeshp » Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:00 am

And why does your target score say : 900 plus? :-S

Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert.

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Gurpinder: Legendary Member; Posts: 659; Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:12 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 32 times

by Gurpinder » Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:15 am

lol....I dono...every1 had 700....I thought i'd put 900+

btw....i got the same answer too...took a while...

cheers

"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."
- Alfred A. Montapert, Philosopher.

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Tani: Legendary Member; Posts: 1255; Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:08 pmFollowed by: 90 members; Location: St. Louis; Thanked: 312 times

by Tani » Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:59 pm

That says a lot for your dedication, but something less about your math skills!

Tani Wolff

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Gurpinder: Legendary Member; Posts: 659; Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:12 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 32 times

by Gurpinder » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:02 am

hi vineesh,

i wanted to clarify something. so the best method for these kind of problems is to have 1 equation for the total and 1 equation of the relationship and then substitute?

"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."
- Alfred A. Montapert, Philosopher.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:15 am

Gurpinder wrote:hi vineesh,

i wanted to clarify something. so the best method for these kind of problems is to have 1 equation for the total and 1 equation of the relationship and then substitute?

Hi Gurpinder,

I thought I'd jump in here.
The "best" approach here really depends on how comfortable you are with systems of equations. Also, note that you can use the elimination method when solving systems of equations.

Alternatively, you can solve this equation using 1 variable.
Since we're trying to find the number of pies that Alfred cooked, let's let A = the number of pies that Alfred cooked

Since there were 49 pies cooked altogether, we can say that 49-A = the number of pies that Nick cooked

Next we are told that: twice the number of pies that alfred cooked was 14 pies more than the number of pies that nick cooked

So, we can write 2A = 49-A + 14
From here, we have an equation that we can solve for A

2A = 49-A+14
2A = 63-A
3A = 63
A=21

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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Gurpinder: Legendary Member; Posts: 659; Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:12 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 32 times

by Gurpinder » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:26 am

Hi Brent,

I feel that my algebra skills are weak. Questions like the one @ the beginning of this post took me a minute or two to understand. What can I do to improve my skills? I am currently going through the MGMAT Foundations Book. But even in there, not much is taught on the basics of algebra.

I am familiar with solving equations using substitution or elimination methods. However, my trouble is sometimes COMING up with the equation itself.

What would you suggest I do?

Thank you for your help!

"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."
- Alfred A. Montapert, Philosopher.

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Tani: Legendary Member; Posts: 1255; Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:08 pmFollowed by: 90 members; Location: St. Louis; Thanked: 312 times

by Tani » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:54 am

Kaplan has a math refresher course designed to be taken before taking a full GMAT prep course. It gives a solid background on all topics covered in GMAT questions.

https://www.kaptest.com/GMAT/GMAT-Prep/O ... emand.html

Tani Wolff

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:30 am

Gurpinder wrote:Hi Brent,

I feel that my algebra skills are weak. Questions like the one @ the beginning of this post took me a minute or two to understand. What can I do to improve my skills? I am currently going through the MGMAT Foundations Book. But even in there, not much is taught on the basics of algebra.

I am familiar with solving equations using substitution or elimination methods. However, my trouble is sometimes COMING up with the equation itself.

What would you suggest I do?

Thank you for your help!

You're not alone - it's not easy to derive the equation necessary to solve a question.
Just remember that your goal is to manipulate quantities so that we can set one value equal to another value.
There are several resources for practicing this.
Here's one site to get you started: https://www.math.com/school/subject2/les ... 1L3GL.html

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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