At a certain college there are twice as many english majors

This is how I translated the question:

At a certain college there are twice as many english majors as history majors
E = 2H

and three times as many english majors as mathematics majors.
E = 3M

What is the ratio of the number of history majors to the number of mathematics majors?
What is H:M?

Just set E equal to each other to get the ratio in terms of H and M.

2H = 3M
H/M = 3/2


The answer is 3:2

HAHA you are right. I can't believe I did that. Just goes to show you how two wrongs can make a right?

Kudos to you sir, thanks for pointing out my blunder.

Hi All,

Since this question just describes how 1 variables relates to 2 other variables, we can TEST VALUES to put those relationships in terms of real numbers...

We're told that:
1) There are TWICE as many English majors as History majors.
2) There are THREE TIMES as many English majors as Math majors.

Since, the number of English majors is 2 times a number and 3 times another number, let's choose...

English majors = 6

Using the two given facts, we have....

History majors = 3
Math majors = 2

The question asks for the ratio of the number of History majors to the number of Math majors. Using the numbers above, we have...

H:M
3:2

Final Answer:

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Bunuel,

I also marked my answer as 2:3 only to find it wrong. Can you please explain what am I doing wrong if I am directly putting 2H/3M to take out the ratio?

Hi ashikaverma13,

It's important to remember what the question ASKS for...

You have not shown any of the work that you've done, so I assume that when you get to 2H/3M in your work, you were actually looking at 2H = 3M. In math terms, this means "2 times the number of History majors is equal to 3 times the number of Math majors."

From here, you can either continue to do algebra or you can think in terms of real-world numbers.

Algebraically, you'd have...

2H = 3M
2H/M = 3
H/M = 3/2

So the ratio of H to M is 3:2

In real-world terms, you cannot have a 'fraction' of a person, so let's look for a number that's both a multiple of 2 and a multiple of 3.... 6

2H = 3M
6 = 6

So, if 2H = 6 and 3M = 6, then...

H = 3 and M = 2...

So the ratio of H to M is 3:2

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi,

Yea, I miscalculated at the last step. missed the last step of calculation actually and converted 2H=3M in the ratio of 2:3 and missed the conversion.

Thanks, it is clear to me now.

Page 133:

Question 6

The retailer has ... twice as many radios as clocks....

"twice as many radios as clocks" should be 2r = c but for some reason they state this as 2c = r??

wtf?
I am a native speaker and this doesn't make sense to me?

if I have 4 apples and 2 oranges, then I would say "I have twice as many apples as oranges" or in variable form "2a=o"

You say yourself that if you have 4 apples and 2 oranges, then you have twice as many apples as oranges, (4 apples) = 2*(2 oranges), a = 20, NOT 2a=o.

Similarly, "twice as many radios as clocks" means r = 2*c, there are more radios than clocks (twice as many), so you should multiply the number of clocks by 2 to get the number of radios.

The question you mention in your second post is discussed here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/at-a-certain ... 85632.html

Hope it helps.

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Hope it helps.

My 2 cents on this:

The way I read these sentences is as follows:

Which one is bigger? English or History, English or Mathematics?

"twice as many English majors as history majors" means English majors are more than history. E = 2H

"three times as many English majors as mathematics majors" means more English majors than Mathematics. E = 3M

2H = 3M

H/M = 3/2

Ans B.

(Don't rush into picking C!)

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