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# In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house

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In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink]  09 Feb 2013, 13:03
00:00

Difficulty:

35% (medium)

Question Stats:

64% (01:47) correct 36% (00:55) wrong based on 84 sessions
In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige houses as white houses and five times as many white houses as brown houses. What is the ratio of the number of brown houses to the number of beige houses?

(A) 1:10

(B) 1:9

(C) 2:5

(D) 5:2

(E) 10:1

Source: Gmat Hacks 1800
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

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Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink]  10 Feb 2013, 06:37
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Expert's post
This is a pure ratio question, so there's no harm in picking a number for something if that makes things easier for you. If we have 10 white houses, we have 5 beige houses and 2 brown houses. So the answer is 2:5.
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Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink]  27 Feb 2013, 19:52
1
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Expert's post
hikaps14 wrote:
megafan wrote:
In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige houses as white houses and five times as many white houses as brown houses. What is the ratio of the number of brown houses to the number of beige houses?

(A) 1:10

(B) 1:9

(C) 2:5

(D) 5:2

(E) 10:1

Source: Gmat Hacks 1800

I usually do not have any problem with ratios.. but there are few which trouble me a lot. The above one use word 'as many'.

I read the problem and got the answer 5:2. I interpreted "half no. of beige = total no. of white & 5 times the no. of white = total no. of brown'.

The ans suggest otherwise. Could some one explain, how to interpret them correctly.

Thanks,

If I tell you, "I have five times as many problems as you do," what does it mean? Do I have more problems or do you?
I hope you will agree that I have more problems.
Similarly, I have half as many books as you means that I have fewer books.

Now look at the question:

"there are half as many beige houses as white houses" - implies Beige:White = 1:2 (There are fewer Beige houses)

"there are five times as many white houses as brown houses" - implies White:Brown = 5:1 (There are more White houses)

Hence, Beige:White:Brown = 5:10:2
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Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for $199 Veritas Prep Reviews Director Status: Joined: 24 Jul 2011 Posts: 642 GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V48 GRE 1: 1540 Q800 V740 Followers: 85 Kudos [?]: 350 [0], given: 14 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 09 Feb 2013, 21:27 Let x be the number of beige houses Then number of white houses = 2x Number of brown houses = 2x/5 Ratio of number of brown houses to number of beige houses = (2x/5)/(x) = 2:5 Option C _________________ GyanOne | http://www.GyanOne.com | +91 9899831738 Manager Joined: 08 Dec 2012 Posts: 67 Location: United Kingdom GMAT 1: 710 Q0 V0 WE: Engineering (Consulting) Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 69 [0], given: 31 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 10 Feb 2013, 09:58 $$\frac{1}{2}*Be$$ = $$1*W$$ $$5 * W$$ = $$1*Br$$ => $$\frac{1}{5}*Br$$ So Ration of Br to Be = $$\frac{1}{5}/\frac{1}{2}$$ = $$\frac{2}{5}$$ Answer is C Senior Manager Joined: 10 Apr 2012 Posts: 281 Location: United States Concentration: Technology, Other GPA: 2.44 WE: Project Management (Telecommunications) Followers: 3 Kudos [?]: 266 [0], given: 325 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 27 Feb 2013, 11:53 nave81 wrote: $$\frac{1}{2}*Be$$ = $$1*W$$ $$5 * W$$ = $$1*Br$$ => $$\frac{1}{5}*Br$$ So Ration of Br to Be = $$\frac{1}{5}/\frac{1}{2}$$ = $$\frac{2}{5}$$ Answer is C Nave 81 - little correction 1/2 White =Be.House & white house =5 brown house . translation : if there are 2 brown houses , there will be 10 white house : hence W.H=5 Brown House therefore : 5/2 brown house =be.House => brown house/be.House =2/5 Intern Joined: 28 Jan 2013 Posts: 8 Location: United States Concentration: Strategy, Technology GMAT Date: 04-20-2013 GPA: 3.2 WE: Analyst (Computer Software) Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 11 [0], given: 4 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 27 Feb 2013, 14:38 megafan wrote: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige houses as white houses and five times as many white houses as brown houses. What is the ratio of the number of brown houses to the number of beige houses? (A) 1:10 (B) 1:9 (C) 2:5 (D) 5:2 (E) 10:1 Source: Gmat Hacks 1800 I usually do not have any problem with ratios.. but there are few which trouble me a lot. The above one use word 'as many'. I read the problem and got the answer 5:2. I interpreted "half no. of beige = total no. of white & 5 times the no. of white = total no. of brown'. The ans suggest otherwise. Could some one explain, how to interpret them correctly. Thanks, Intern Joined: 28 Jan 2013 Posts: 8 Location: United States Concentration: Strategy, Technology GMAT Date: 04-20-2013 GPA: 3.2 WE: Analyst (Computer Software) Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 11 [0], given: 4 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 28 Feb 2013, 11:42 VeritasPrepKarishma wrote: If I tell you, "I have five times as many problems as you do," what does it mean? Do I have more problems or do you? I hope you will agree that I have more problems. Similarly, I have half as many books as you means that I have fewer books. Now look at the question: "there are half as many beige houses as white houses" - implies Beige:White = 1:2 (There are fewer Beige houses) "there are five times as many white houses as brown houses" - implies White:Brown = 5:1 (There are more White houses) Hence, Beige:White:Brown = 5:10:2 Thanks for your reply. The moment you used the missing word 'times'. The problem was crystal clear. I will always assume the times word if not mentioned. ex : 'half times' Thanks karishma Intern Joined: 04 Oct 2012 Posts: 4 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 0 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 28 Feb 2013, 16:50 VeritasPrepKarishma wrote: hikaps14 wrote: megafan wrote: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige houses as white houses and five times as many white houses as brown houses. What is the ratio of the number of brown houses to the number of beige houses? (A) 1:10 (B) 1:9 (C) 2:5 (D) 5:2 (E) 10:1 Source: Gmat Hacks 1800 I usually do not have any problem with ratios.. but there are few which trouble me a lot. The above one use word 'as many'. I read the problem and got the answer 5:2. I interpreted "half no. of beige = total no. of white & 5 times the no. of white = total no. of brown'. The ans suggest otherwise. Could some one explain, how to interpret them correctly. Thanks, If I tell you, "I have five times as many problems as you do," what does it mean? Do I have more problems or do you? I hope you will agree that I have more problems. Similarly, I have half as many books as you means that I have fewer books. Now look at the question: "there are half as many beige houses as white houses" - implies Beige:White = 1:2 (There are fewer Beige houses) "there are five times as many white houses as brown houses" - implies White:Brown = 5:1 (There are more White houses) Hence, Beige:White:Brown = 5:10:2 I still don't get it . Are we multiplying both of the numbers in White to get the 10? Intern Joined: 28 Jan 2013 Posts: 8 Location: United States Concentration: Strategy, Technology GMAT Date: 04-20-2013 GPA: 3.2 WE: Analyst (Computer Software) Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 11 [0], given: 4 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 28 Feb 2013, 17:54 dananyc wrote: I still don't get it . Are we multiplying both of the numbers in White to get the 10? Karishma , just added a kudos for your reply. As karishma stated : "there are half as many beige houses as white houses" - implies Beige:White = 1:2 (There are fewer Beige houses) "there are five times as many white houses as brown houses" - implies White:Brown = 5:1 (There are more White houses) Hence, Beige:White:Brown = 5:10:2 She made the ratios common above Be : Wi = 1:2 (same as 5:10) Wi : br = 5:1 (same as 10:2) Once the white ratio is made common in above 2 equations then we can merge the 2 as Be: wi : Br = 5:10:2 Another way to look at Be/Wi = 1/2 ( Wi = 2 Be) Wi/Br = 5/1 ( Wi = 5 Br) so we 2 Be = 5 Br , Br/ Be = 2/5. I hope I made some sense. Moderator Joined: 01 Sep 2010 Posts: 2634 Followers: 470 Kudos [?]: 3646 [0], given: 726 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 28 Feb 2013, 19:01 Expert's post It is not difficult to concentrate on the stem and think: white is $$20$$, brown is $$\frac{1}{5}$$ of white so $$4$$ and beige is $$half$$ of white so $$10$$ $$Brown / beige$$ $$=$$$$\frac{4}{10}$$ $$=$$ $$\frac{2}{5}$$ C 30 seconds. that's it. no formula, no bother _________________ Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 5682 Location: Pune, India Followers: 1416 Kudos [?]: 7362 [0], given: 186 Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink] 28 Feb 2013, 19:26 Expert's post hikaps14 wrote: dananyc wrote: I still don't get it . Are we multiplying both of the numbers in White to get the 10? Karishma , just added a kudos for your reply. As karishma stated : "there are half as many beige houses as white houses" - implies Beige:White = 1:2 (There are fewer Beige houses) "there are five times as many white houses as brown houses" - implies White:Brown = 5:1 (There are more White houses) Hence, Beige:White:Brown = 5:10:2 She made the ratios common above Be : Wi = 1:2 (same as 5:10) Wi : br = 5:1 (same as 10:2) Once the white ratio is made common in above 2 equations then we can merge the 2 as Be: wi : Br = 5:10:2 Another way to look at Be/Wi = 1/2 ( Wi = 2 Be) Wi/Br = 5/1 ( Wi = 5 Br) so we 2 Be = 5 Br , Br/ Be = 2/5. I hope I made some sense. To add to what hikaps14 said, ratio between two numbers is nothing but the relation between them. Beige:White = 1:2 means for every one Beige, there are two Whites White: Brown = 5:1 means for every 5 Whites, there is 1 Brown. So what is the relation between Beige and Brown? We don't know because the numbers of whites are not comparable. So what do we do? We make the Whites comparable i.e. we make them same. Beige:White = 1:2 = 5:10 (ratio remains the same if you multiply each term by the same number) means for every 5 Beige, there are 10 Whites. White: Brown = 5:1 = 10:2 means for every 10 WHites, there are 2 Browns. Now we can say that for every 5 Beige, there are 10 Whites and for every 10 Whites, there are 2 Browns. SO for every 5 Beige, there are 2 Browns. Beige:Brown = 5:2 This is how you manipulate ratios. It is useful to know. This question is best solved taking numbers though (as done by Ian above) _________________ Karishma Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor My Blog Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for$199

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Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink]  04 Mar 2013, 18:08
Thanks very much!
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Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house [#permalink]  25 Aug 2013, 03:04
Assume number of White houses as 10, Beige is half as many and White is 5 times Brown

Beige : White : Brown

5 : 10 : 2

Ratio of Brown to beige would be 2 : 5

Ans : C
Re: In a certain neighborhood there are half as many beige house   [#permalink] 25 Aug 2013, 03:04
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