Bunuel
At a certain university, the dormitory policy is that each dormitory must have at least 7 resident advisers for every 200 residents. If a dormitory is home to 3500 residents, what is the minimum number of resident advisers required?
A. 120
B. 121
C. 122
D. 123
E. 124
Kudos for a correct solution. VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:If the minimum ratio of resident advisers to residents is 7:200, and the dormitory has 3500 advisers, then you can set up an equation using the idea that:
The ratio of x:3500 must be greater than or equal to 7:200.
Which, mathematically, translates to:
x/3500≥7/200
Then you can cross-multiply and solve for x:
200x≥7(3500) (Note: don't actually do the multiplication when you know you'll be able to divide both sides by 100)
That reduces to:
2x≥7(35)
Which then becomes:
x≥7(35)/2
From this point you can crunch the numbers however you like. One method is to divide the 35 by 2 so that you're multiplying 7 by 17.5, which breaks out somewhat conveniently to:
7 times 10, which you know is 70.
Plus 7 times 7, which you know is 49.
Plus 7 times .5, which is 3.5.
Add those up and x must be greater than (or equal to) 122.5, but since resident advisers must be integers the answer is then 123.