Kimberly77 wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
At the beginning of the year, the Finance Committee and the Planning Committee of a certain company each had n members, and no one was a member of both committees. At the end of the year, 5 members left the Finance Committee and 3 members left the Planning Committee. How many members did the Finance Committee have at the beginning of the year?
(1) The ratio of the total number of members who left at the end of the year to the total number of members at the beginning of the year was 1:6.
(2) At the end of the year, 21 members remained on the Planning Committee.
Hi
BrentGMATPrepNow, Given
At the beginning of year
Number of people in Finance committee = n
Number of people in Planning committee = n
Total = 2n
At the end of year
Number of people in Finance committee= n-5
Number of people in Planning committee = n-3
Total = 2n - 8
For St1, wondering why is not 2n-8/2n = 1/6 but 8/2n? Not sure what did I miss? Thanks Brent.
Statement 1: The ratio of the total number of
members who left at the end of the year to the total number of members at the beginning of the year was 1:6.
We're told that, at the end of the year,
5 members left the Finance Committee and
3 members left the Planning Committee.
So, the total number of members who
left = 5 + 3 = 8.
Your equation is for a different statement.
REVISED statement 1: The ratio of the total number of
members who remained after 8 members left at the end of the year to the total number of members at the beginning of the year was 1:6.
IF this were the wording for statement 1, your equation, (
2n-8)/2n = 1/6 would apply.