Find all School-related info fast with the new School-Specific MBA Forum

 It is currently 02 May 2016, 04:18

### GMAT Club Daily Prep

#### Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

# Events & Promotions

###### Events & Promotions in June
Open Detailed Calendar

# Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the

 Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics
Author Message
TAGS:

### Hide Tags

Senior Manager
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 442
Followers: 5

Kudos [?]: 73 [2] , given: 112

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

01 Sep 2010, 11:12
2
KUDOS
17
This post was
BOOKMARKED
00:00

Difficulty:

65% (hard)

Question Stats:

69% (03:22) correct 31% (03:00) wrong based on 456 sessions

### HideShow timer Statictics

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

A. 600
B. 800
C. 1000
D. 1200
E. 1500

[Reveal] Spoiler:
I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

Last edited by Bunuel on 06 Sep 2012, 10:01, edited 2 times in total.
Edited the question.
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 32556
Followers: 5641

Kudos [?]: 68412 [9] , given: 9805

Re: solution required [#permalink]

### Show Tags

01 Sep 2010, 12:56
9
KUDOS
Expert's post
5
This post was
BOOKMARKED
gauravnagpal wrote:
.Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

a. 600
b. 800
c. 1000
d. 1200
e. 1500

I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !

Let the rate of printer A be $$a$$ pages per minute, the rate of printer B be $$b$$ pages per minute and whole task be $$x$$ pages.

$$time*rate=job \ done$$:

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes" --> $$24(a+b)=x$$;
Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes --> $$60a=x$$;
Printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A --> $$b=a+5$$.

Solving for $$x$$ --> $$x=600$$.

Some work problems with solutions:
time-n-work-problem-82718.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
facing-problem-with-this-question-91187.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
what-am-i-doing-wrong-to-bunuel-91124.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
gmat-prep-ps-93365.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
a-good-one-98479.html?hilit=rate

Hope it helps.
_________________
Intern
Joined: 08 Oct 2009
Posts: 12
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 10 [8] , given: 3

Re: solution required [#permalink]

### Show Tags

03 Sep 2010, 11:26
8
KUDOS
2
This post was
BOOKMARKED
B in a minute=x/40
A in a minute=x/60
then,
x/40-x/60=5

Solving x=600
Director
Joined: 28 Jul 2011
Posts: 563
Location: United States
Concentration: International Business, General Management
GPA: 3.86
WE: Accounting (Commercial Banking)
Followers: 2

Kudos [?]: 147 [0], given: 16

Re: solution required [#permalink]

### Show Tags

06 Sep 2012, 08:09
1
This post was
BOOKMARKED
Bunuel wrote:
gauravnagpal wrote:
.Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

a. 600
b. 800
c. 1000
d. 1200
e. 1500

I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !

Let the rate of printer A be $$a$$ pages per minute, the rate of printer B be $$b$$ pages per minute and whole task be $$x$$ pages.

$$time*rate=job \ done$$:

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes" --> $$24(a+b)=x$$;
Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes --> $$60a=x$$;
Printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A --> $$b=a+5$$.

Solving for $$x$$ --> $$x=600$$.

Some work problems with solutions:
time-n-work-problem-82718.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
facing-problem-with-this-question-91187.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
what-am-i-doing-wrong-to-bunuel-91124.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
gmat-prep-ps-93365.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
a-good-one-98479.html?hilit=rate

Hope it helps.

Hi Bunnel,

I have always one confusion in rate and work problems can you please clarify this?,

When do we add rates i.e what you did above...... $$24(a+b)=x$$;

and when do we divide by rates i.e something . rate =(Job done/ time)

Regards

Srinath
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 32556
Followers: 5641

Kudos [?]: 68412 [0], given: 9805

Re: solution required [#permalink]

### Show Tags

06 Sep 2012, 10:39
Expert's post
1
This post was
BOOKMARKED
kotela wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
gauravnagpal wrote:
.Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

a. 600
b. 800
c. 1000
d. 1200
e. 1500

I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !

Let the rate of printer A be $$a$$ pages per minute, the rate of printer B be $$b$$ pages per minute and whole task be $$x$$ pages.

$$time*rate=job \ done$$:

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes" --> $$24(a+b)=x$$;
Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes --> $$60a=x$$;
Printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A --> $$b=a+5$$.

Solving for $$x$$ --> $$x=600$$.

Some work problems with solutions:
time-n-work-problem-82718.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
facing-problem-with-this-question-91187.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
what-am-i-doing-wrong-to-bunuel-91124.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
gmat-prep-ps-93365.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
a-good-one-98479.html?hilit=rate

Hope it helps.

Hi Bunnel,

I have always one confusion in rate and work problems can you please clarify this?,

When do we add rates i.e what you did above...... $$24(a+b)=x$$;

and when do we divide by rates i.e something . rate =(Job done/ time)

Regards

Srinath

You can denote rate directly by some variable (a in the solution) or express rate as a reciprocal of time. For example, say printer A needs t minutes to print 1 page and printer B needs m minutes to print 1 page, then the rate of printer A would be job/time=1/t pages per minute and the rate of printer B would be 1/m pages per minute (rate is a reciprocal of time, so 1/t=a and 1/m=b). In this case the equation would be 24(1/t+1/m)=x.

Hope it's clear.
_________________
Manager
Joined: 28 Feb 2012
Posts: 115
Concentration: Strategy, International Business
Schools: INSEAD Jan '13
GPA: 3.9
WE: Marketing (Other)
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 33 [0], given: 17

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

08 Sep 2012, 05:51
First thing i did was i found out time that is required to B to complete the task alone: 1/24-1/60=3/120=1/40. Then i looked at the information which states that the rate of B is 5+ page than that of A so, lets say x is the number of pages printed by A per minute, so the task consists of 60*x or 40*(x+5) pages. I can make an equation: 60x=40(x+5), 20x=200, x=10, total number of pages is 60*10=600 or 40*15=600

It is clear but it took me about 3 min to do it, does it because i am doing it slow or i am using longer route?
_________________

If you found my post useful and/or interesting - you are welcome to give kudos!

Senior Manager
Joined: 13 Aug 2012
Posts: 464
Concentration: Marketing, Finance
GMAT 1: Q V0
GPA: 3.23
Followers: 22

Kudos [?]: 344 [0], given: 11

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

15 Nov 2012, 05:37
3
This post was
BOOKMARKED
$$\frac{1}{A}=\frac{1}{60}$$
$$\frac{1}{B}+\frac{1}{A}=\frac{1}{24}$$

Get: $$\frac{1}{B}$$

$$\frac{1}{B}=\frac{1}{24}-\frac{1}{60}=\frac{1}{40}$$

Let p be the number of pages produced by A.
Let p+5 be the number of pages produced by B.

$$24(p + p+5) = 60(p)==> p=10pages$$

_________________

Impossible is nothing to God.

Senior Manager
Joined: 22 Nov 2010
Posts: 289
Location: India
GMAT 1: 670 Q49 V33
WE: Consulting (Telecommunications)
Followers: 5

Kudos [?]: 98 [1] , given: 75

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

04 Mar 2013, 00:40
1
KUDOS
gauravnagpal wrote:
Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

A. 600
B. 800
C. 1000
D. 1200
E. 1500

[Reveal] Spoiler:
I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !

total time taken by B = 24 * 60 / (60 -24) = 40 min.

A take 60 min. B takes 40 min to complete a task.

Now, divide the values given in option (in Ans) to get the rate per min.

option A: 600 / 10 = 60 & 600/40 = 15...> this satisfies the condition given in question stem that printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?
. therefore A
_________________

YOU CAN, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN

Current Student
Status: Everyone is a leader. Just stop listening to others.
Joined: 22 Mar 2013
Posts: 993
Location: India
GPA: 3.51
WE: Information Technology (Computer Software)
Followers: 144

Kudos [?]: 1081 [1] , given: 226

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

21 Sep 2013, 11:31
1
KUDOS
1
This post was
BOOKMARKED
Ta = 60min
Ra = 1/Ta = 1/60
Rb = 1/Tb

Combined task completion time 24min.
=Ra + Rb
=1/60 + 1/Tb = 1/24
Tb = 40 min.

Ra = X/Ta Rb = X/Tb

Ra + 5 = Rb
X/Ta + 5 = X/Tb
X/60 + 5 = X/40
X=600 Ans.
_________________

Piyush K
-----------------------
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time. ― Thomas A. Edison
Don't forget to press--> Kudos
My Articles: 1. WOULD: when to use? | 2. All GMATPrep RCs (New)
Tip: Before exam a week earlier don't forget to exhaust all gmatprep problems specially for "sentence correction".

Manager
Joined: 26 Feb 2013
Posts: 184
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 34 [0], given: 25

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

25 Sep 2013, 04:09
mbaiseasy wrote:
Let p be the number of pages produced by A.
Let p+5 be the number of pages produced by B.

$$24(p + p+5) = 60(p)==> p=10pages$$

How do you come up with these??
Current Student
Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Posts: 221
Concentration: Finance, Economics
GMAT 1: 670 Q39 V41
GMAT 2: 730 Q49 V41
Followers: 4

Kudos [?]: 103 [0], given: 40

Re: solution required [#permalink]

### Show Tags

20 Nov 2013, 16:01
Bunuel wrote:
gauravnagpal wrote:
.Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

a. 600
b. 800
c. 1000
d. 1200
e. 1500

I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !

Let the rate of printer A be $$a$$ pages per minute, the rate of printer B be $$b$$ pages per minute and whole task be $$x$$ pages.

$$time*rate=job \ done$$:

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes" --> $$24(a+b)=x$$;
Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes --> $$60a=x$$;
Printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A --> $$b=a+5$$.

Solving for $$x$$ --> $$x=600$$.

Some work problems with solutions:
time-n-work-problem-82718.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
facing-problem-with-this-question-91187.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
what-am-i-doing-wrong-to-bunuel-91124.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
gmat-prep-ps-93365.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
a-good-one-98479.html?hilit=rate

Hope it helps.

I'm curious about the 1/a+1/b=1/24 solution as well. I started out trying that way and got stuck at the same point as the other fellow. Is there any way to solve it once you have 1/60+1/40 for their combined rates? Or is that just a dead end?

edit: Also, question #2:

Shouldn't the equation be 24(1/a+1/b)=x; ? Since you have 24 minutes in which the machines are working at their individual rates, doing 1/a and 1/b of the job per minute? I don't get how one can know when to arbitrarily use "a" instead of '1/a" or "b" instead of "1/b"
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 32556
Followers: 5641

Kudos [?]: 68412 [1] , given: 9805

Re: solution required [#permalink]

### Show Tags

21 Nov 2013, 02:40
1
KUDOS
Expert's post
AccipiterQ wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
gauravnagpal wrote:
.Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes. Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes. How many pages does the task contain if printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A ?

a. 600
b. 800
c. 1000
d. 1200
e. 1500

I know this question is relatively symol if make an equation in one vaibale ...
I tried to do it by applying the fundamental of A = Jobs per min * time ( the way we typically solve the work problems ) and i was stuck

I did jobs per minute A , 1/60
combined rate = 1/24

so rate of b = 1/24 - 1/60 = 1/40

but could not arrive at the solution ... i tried to form the equation by assuming x as the total numbe of pages So x/60+ x+5/40 = cld nt take ot forward from here
kindly see where am I losing the track !

Let the rate of printer A be $$a$$ pages per minute, the rate of printer B be $$b$$ pages per minute and whole task be $$x$$ pages.

$$time*rate=job \ done$$:

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes" --> $$24(a+b)=x$$;
Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes --> $$60a=x$$;
Printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A --> $$b=a+5$$.

Solving for $$x$$ --> $$x=600$$.

Some work problems with solutions:
time-n-work-problem-82718.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
facing-problem-with-this-question-91187.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
what-am-i-doing-wrong-to-bunuel-91124.html?highlight=rate+reciprocal
gmat-prep-ps-93365.html?hilit=reciprocal%20rate
a-good-one-98479.html?hilit=rate

Hope it helps.

I'm curious about the 1/a+1/b=1/24 solution as well. I started out trying that way and got stuck at the same point as the other fellow. Is there any way to solve it once you have 1/60+1/40 for their combined rates? Or is that just a dead end?

edit: Also, question #2:

Shouldn't the equation be 24(1/a+1/b)=x; ? Since you have 24 minutes in which the machines are working at their individual rates, doing 1/a and 1/b of the job per minute? I don't get how one can know when to arbitrarily use "a" instead of '1/a" or "b" instead of "1/b"

In this case we'd have:
The rate of printer A = 1/a pages per minute, where a is the time to print 1 page.
The rate of printer B = 1/b pages per minute, where b is the time to print 1 page.

Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the task in 24 minutes" --> $$24(\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{b})=x$$;
Printer A alone would finish the task in 60 minutes --> $$60*\frac{1}{a}=x$$;
Printer B prints 5 pages a minute more than printer A --> $$\frac{1}{b}=\frac{1}{a}+5$$.

Solving for $$x$$ --> $$x=600$$.

_________________
Current Student
Joined: 03 Aug 2012
Posts: 915
Concentration: General Management, General Management
GMAT 1: 630 Q47 V29
GMAT 2: 680 Q50 V32
GPA: 3.7
WE: Information Technology (Investment Banking)
Followers: 19

Kudos [?]: 518 [2] , given: 322

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

18 Mar 2014, 07:00
2
KUDOS
Rate A= X
Rate B= X+5

Work(A)=> X * 60 = 60X

Rate(A+B) * 24 = Work

(2X+5) * 24 = 60X

X=10
_________________

Rgds,
TGC!
_____________________________________________________________________
I Assisted You => KUDOS Please
_____________________________________________________________________________

Manager
Joined: 11 Sep 2013
Posts: 153
Concentration: Finance, Finance
Followers: 2

Kudos [?]: 56 [0], given: 156

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

22 Apr 2014, 21:56
A does in one minute =x pages
Therefore, in 60 minutes=60x pages

B does in one minute= x+5
In 24 minutes both do 60x pages
24x+24(x+5)=60x
X=10 total work=60*10=600 pages
Intern
Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 39
Location: United States
Concentration: Marketing, Operations
GMAT 1: 650 Q44 V35
GMAT 2: 600 Q47 V26
GMAT 3: 660 Q43 V38
GPA: 3.6
WE: Information Technology (Computer Software)
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 11 [2] , given: 19

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

15 May 2014, 11:02
2
KUDOS
1
This post was
BOOKMARKED
Easiest way to do this: Machine A and B can do the task in 24 minutes thus Rate of A and B = 1/24. Now given A can do the task in 60 minutes therefore Rate of A= 1/60. We know that Rate of A and B = Rate of A + Rate of B therefore Rate of B= Rate of A and B - Rate of A = 1/24-1/60= 1/40. Now we know that Rate of B = 1/40 thus B can do the work in 40 minutes.

Let pages printed per minute by A = x, given that pages printed by B per minute is 5 more than that of A
Pages printed by B per minute = x+5
Now Complete task is done by A in 60 minutes therefore total number of pages printed by A = x * 60
Also Complete task is done by B in 40 minutes therefore total number of pages printed by B = (x+5) * 40
therefore x * 60 = (x+5) * 40
therefore x=10
thus the total number of pages in task = x*60 = 10*60 = 600
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 9252
Followers: 455

Kudos [?]: 115 [0], given: 0

Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the [#permalink]

### Show Tags

18 May 2015, 10:55
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________
Re: Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the   [#permalink] 18 May 2015, 10:55
Similar topics Replies Last post
Similar
Topics:
54 It takes printer A 4 more minutes than printer B to print 40 27 03 Aug 2010, 12:13
3 It takes printer A 4 more minutes than printer B to print 40 6 15 Feb 2010, 00:21
7 Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the 7 20 Oct 2008, 03:40
19 A and B working together can finish a job in d days. If A 15 14 Jul 2007, 18:58
7 It takes printer A 4 more minutes more than printer B to 7 21 Feb 2007, 04:53
Display posts from previous: Sort by

# Working together, printer A and printer B would finish the

 Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics

 Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group and phpBB SEO Kindly note that the GMAT® test is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by GMAC®.