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# D01-30

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Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 61385

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15 Sep 2014, 23:12
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Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

78% (02:29) correct 22% (02:48) wrong based on 166 sessions

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Painters A and B can paint a house working alone in 20 and 30 days respectively. They started painting a house together but then A left after a number of days but then rejoined B before the job was completed. If B worked alone for 5 days and then A and B together completed the work in 4 days, after how many days of working together, did A leave B?

A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7
E. 8

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08 Dec 2015, 05:01
9
1
I prefer assuming total work before solving such questions. Helps me to avoid fractions.

ALONE
A finishes work in 20 days
B finishes work in 30 days

Taking LCM of 20 and 30 (Or any convenient common mulitple) --> 120
So if total work is 120, then to finish 120 units of work as per their current rate
A finishes work 120/20 = 6 units per day
B finishes work 120/30 = 4 units per day
Both together finish 6 + 4 = 10 units per day.

Coming back to what's asked -
B alone worked for 5 days, so 4*5 = 20 units of total 120 units is done
Together they worked for 4 hours before finishing the work = 10*4 = 40 units.
We've got 40 + 20 = 60 units done.
120-60 = 60 units pending.
This work is nothing but the work that A & B did together before A left B alone to suffer.
Hence 60/10 = 6 days!

+Kudos, if this helped!
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##### General Discussion
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
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15 Sep 2014, 23:13
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Official Solution:

Painters A and B can paint a house working alone in 20 and 30 days respectively. They started painting a house together but then A left after a number of days but then rejoined B before the job was completed. If B worked alone for 5 days and then A and B together completed the work in 4 days, after how many days of working together, did A leave B?

A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7
E. 8

The rate of A is $$\frac{1}{20}$$ job/day;

The rate of B is $$\frac{1}{30}$$ job/day;

The combined rate of A and B is $$\frac{1}{20}+\frac{1}{30}=\frac{1}{12}$$ job/day.

In 5 days that B worked alone (2nd stage) $$5*\frac{1}{30}=\frac{2}{12}$$ of the job was done;

In 4 day that A and B worked together (3rd stage) $$4*\frac{1}{12}=\frac{4}{12}$$ of the job was done;

So, in the 1st stage of the work $$1-\frac{2}{12}-\frac{4}{12}=\frac{6}{12}$$ part of the job was done by A and B together, which at the rate of $$\frac{1}{12}$$ job/day took them 6 days.

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15 Feb 2016, 05:24
1
1
nishantdoshi wrote:
I think this the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

Hi,
Lets divide the work in two parts, one when B worked alone and second when both worked together..
Since B can finish work in 30 days, His 1 day work = 1/30 of total..
so in 5 days, he will finish= 5/30= 1/6 of work..

now second part, when both work together..
we should not confuse in two different time frames, that is one at the start and other in the end.. we just require how many days both worked together..
one day work of both= 1/20 + 1/30 = 5/60= 1/12..
so they have to finish 1-1/6 work= 5/6..
it will be done in (5/6)/(1/12)= 5*12/6= 10..
so both work for 10 days together..
In the second part they worked for 4 days to finish the work..
so they worked for 10-4=6 days initially..
ans 6

C
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19 Apr 2016, 22:32
I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.
Manager
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16 Jul 2016, 09:56
I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.
Manager
Joined: 03 Dec 2013
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GMAT 1: 660 Q49 V30
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22 Aug 2016, 11:00
I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation. Great question. I freaked out when I first faced it but was able to solve it within 2 mins! Thanks
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30 Nov 2016, 18:55
1
I will go with this approach,

rate of A= 1/20 job per day
rate of B = 1/30 job per day

when they work together the no of days required to complete the task = 1/20 + 1/30 = 3+2/60 = 5/60 = 1/12

when A and B were working together let us assume that after X days A left the working while ,
so the work completed in X days by both of them = x * 1/12= x/12

so the work remaining = 1-x/12 = 12-x/12

Now B worked for 5 days , so total work done by B in 5 days = 5*1/30 = 1/6

now the total work remaining = total work remaining after x days - work done alone by B in 5 days
= 12-x/12 - 1/6
= 10-x/12

now A rejoined the work and they both completed the remaining work in 4 days
remaining work = 4 days of work for A and B
10-x/12 = 4/12
10-x = 4
x= 6

so the no of days after which A left working together is 6
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29 Jan 2017, 06:35
I think this is a poor-quality question and I don't agree with the explanation. 1/20 + 1/30 is not 1/12
Intern
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29 Jan 2017, 09:18
1
let for x days A worked with B before he left
Now
A worked for X+ 4 days
B worked for X+4+5 ie. X+9 days.

(X+4)/20 + (x+9)/30 =1
solve this you will get X=6
Math Expert
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29 Jan 2017, 09:20
Abosse0 wrote:
I think this is a poor-quality question and I don't agree with the explanation. 1/20 + 1/30 is not 1/12

Actually it is exactly 1/12.

1/20 + 1/30 = 3/60 + 2/60 = 5/60 = 1/12.
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Concentration: Operations, Strategy
Schools: Erasmus '21 (M$) Re: D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 30 Jan 2017, 08:15 1 Bunuel wrote: Painters A and B can paint a house working alone in 20 and 30 days respectively. They started painting a house together but then A left after a number of days but then rejoined B before the job was completed. If B worked alone for 5 days and then A and B together completed the work in 4 days, after how many days of working together, did A leave B? A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 7 E. 8 Given from the prompt: A & B worked together + B worked alone + A& B joined again to complete work Combined rate = 1/20+ 1/30 = (3+2)/60=5/60= 1/12 job/day Let T= time for both A & B together before A leaving B To solve the question: Use the standard formula Work = rate * time Following the sequence stated by prompt T *1/12 + 5 *1/30 + 4 *1/12 = 1 .............( the work here is one house) T /12 + 1/6 + 1/3 = 1 T /12 + 3/6= 1 T /12 = 1/2 .......T=6 Answer: C Intern Joined: 20 Apr 2017 Posts: 2 Location: Bangladesh Schools: Goodman "22 GMAT 1: 670 Q46 V36 GPA: 2.79 Re D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 18 May 2017, 01:58 I think this is a high-quality question. Current Student Joined: 22 May 2017 Posts: 1 Location: United States (TX) Concentration: General Management, Strategy GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V32 GPA: 3.24 WE: Supply Chain Management (Energy and Utilities) Re D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 07 Jul 2017, 11:38 I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation. Intern Joined: 22 Dec 2016 Posts: 1 Location: United States (NC) GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V40 GPA: 3.63 Re: D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 28 May 2018, 10:49 I solved by setting up a table and following the story in the problem. W R T Painter A 60 60 / 20 = 3 20 Painter B 60 60 / 30 = 2 30 combined 60 3 + 2 = 5 12 Painter B worked alone for 5 days at a rate of 2 (things) per day for a total of 10 (things) Painters A and B worked together for 4 days at a rate of 5 (things) per day for a total of 20 (things) 1 whole house = 60 (things) 60 - 10 - 20 = 30 (things) that A and B worked on together at their combined rate 30 / 5 = 6 days Intern Joined: 12 Sep 2016 Posts: 12 Location: India GMAT 1: 730 Q47 V42 WE: Accounting (Consulting) Re: D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 05 Oct 2018, 00:21 Let's pick up a Number which is the LCM of both of A and B's rates, for eg. 60. Here, let 60 be the total units of work to be done. So, if A takes 20 days to finish 60 units, it means he accomplishes 60/20= 3 units per day. Similarly, if B takes 30 days to finish 60 units, he accomplishes 60/30= 2 units per day Now, the total work done by them in 1 day= 3+2= 5 units. For the 5 days B worked by himself, he gets 5*2 units= 10 units done. The 4 days A and B work together in the end, they get 4* 5 units= 20 units done. Total work done= 30 units. Leftover work= 60-30 units= 30 units. This is the work that A and B must have done together, before A left. So, given the combined rate, A and B together must have done 30 units in 30/5= 6 days! Manager Joined: 30 Oct 2018 Posts: 69 Location: India Schools: IE '22 Re: D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 21 Aug 2019, 14:55 Understood the solutions after some effort. Nice solutions above. thanks guys. VP Joined: 18 Dec 2017 Posts: 1117 Location: United States (KS) GMAT 1: 600 Q46 V27 Re: D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 01 Dec 2019, 08:48 Bunuel wrote: Painters A and B can paint a house working alone in 20 and 30 days respectively. They started painting a house together but then A left after a number of days but then rejoined B before the job was completed. If B worked alone for 5 days and then A and B together completed the work in 4 days, after how many days of working together, did A leave B? A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 7 E. 8 Units of Work = 600 A can do 30 per day and B can do 20 per day. We know B worked for 5 days alone so that 100 units. Work left = 500 We know both worked for 4 days together to finish the job. So 4*50=200. Work left= 300 Now this work was completed by both before A left. So 300/50=6 days. Hence C _________________ The Moment You Think About Giving Up, Think Of The Reason Why You Held On So Long Learn from the Legend himself: All GMAT Ninja LIVE YouTube videos by topic You are missing on great learning if you don't know what this is: Project SC Butler Intern Joined: 28 Nov 2019 Posts: 1 D01-30 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 01 Dec 2019, 10:52 Here is my approach: Assuming a is the amount of work painter A can do in 1 day, b is the amount of work painter B can do in 1 day. Painters A and B can paint a house working alone in 20 and 30 days respectively => 20a = 30b => a=1.5b Assuming X is the day A and B worked together before A left. The total amount of work no matter whether they did together is the same, so: X(a+b) + 5b + 4(a+b) = 30b <=> X x 2.5b + 5b + 4 x 2.5b = 30b <=> X = 6 Hence C I don’t like working with fraction so this approach suits my taste. I’m a GMAT beginner, I’m sorry if my explanation is not very good. Posted from my mobile device Intern Joined: 23 Sep 2016 Posts: 48 Location: Canada Concentration: Strategy, Technology Schools: Ivey '21 (A$)
GMAT 1: 640 Q42 V37
GPA: 2.7

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17 Jan 2020, 20:38
Great question, disagree that it is a 500 level question, upper 600 or 700
I'd say Q48.
Re: D01-30   [#permalink] 17 Jan 2020, 20:38
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