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Bunuel
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Bunuel
A basket of 1430 apples is divided equally among a group of apple lovers. If 45 people join the group, each apple lover would receive 9 apples less. How many apples did each person get before 45 people joined the feast?

A. 20.
B. 21.
C. 22.
D. 23.
E. 24.

Hi.
x*y = 1430
(x+45)*(y-9) = 1430
Solve the equation you get the answer
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Hi please tell me what is wrong with this approach

let a -> average ( initial )
and n -> number of people ( initial)

(1430) / n - (1430)/ (n+45) = 9


but by solving i am getting very bad value of n.

kindly help
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coolnaren
Hi please tell me what is wrong with this approach

let a -> average ( initial )
and n -> number of people ( initial)

(1430) / n - (1430)/ (n+45) = 9


but by solving i am getting very bad value of n.

kindly help

Your equation is correct and if you plug it into google you will get that n = 65.
Then you would need to divide 1430 by 65 to get answer (C).
But - this is an extremely complex quadratic equation.
If, like on this question, you find yourself in front of such a complex quadratic equation there is a very good chance that you've missed a shortcut. Look for it!
For example, look at the solutions using prime factorization above.
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Let N = no. of apples per person BEFORE the extra +45 ppl



No. of People Before = (Total Apples) / (apples per person Before) = (1430) / (N) ---- (eq. 1)

No. of People AFTER +45 = (Total Apples) / (apples per person AFTER)= (1430) / (N - 9) ------ (eq. 2)


(No. of People AFTER +45) - (No. of People Before) = 45

(1430)/(N - 9) - (1430)/(N) = 45

1/(N - 9) - 1/(N) = 45/1430 = 9/286


Plug in the Various Answer Choices for N. Since the NUM = 1 for both fractions and there will always be a Difference of 9 in the DEN, the NUM will always be equal to 9.

Therefore, all we have to find is: (N - 9) * (N) = 286


-C- 22 does the trick

(22 - 9) (22) = (13) (22) = 286
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Varun121595
Bunuel
A basket of 1430 apples is divided equally among a group of apple lovers. If 45 people join the group, each apple lover would receive 9 apples less. How many apples did each person get before 45 people joined the feast?

A. 20.
B. 21.
C. 22.
D. 23.
E. 24.

Hi.
x*y = 1430
(x+45)*(y-9) = 1430
Solve the equation you get the answer

when solving this we get y=(45+x)/5. the only option of 20 fits the x value here. giving 20*110 which is incorrect. how do we avoid this error
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