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# Find a possible value of a+b given the equations

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Director
Joined: 17 Dec 2012
Posts: 628
Location: India
Find a possible value of a+b given the equations  [#permalink]

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03 Jan 2013, 04:36
1
11
00:00

Difficulty:

65% (hard)

Question Stats:

67% (03:07) correct 33% (03:16) wrong based on 125 sessions

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If $$ax + by = 17$$ ,
$$2ax + 3by = 43$$

and $$3x =2y$$, which of the following is a possible value of $$a+b$$ if a and b are integers?

A. 6
B. 10
C. 14
D. 18
E. 20

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Srinivasan Vaidyaraman
Sravna Test Prep
http://www.sravnatestprep.com

Holistic and Systematic Approach
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 9146
Location: Pune, India
Re: Find a possible value of a+b given the equations  [#permalink]

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03 Jan 2013, 10:30
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SravnaTestPrep wrote:
If $$ax + by = 17$$ ,
$$2ax + 3by = 43$$

and $$3x =2y$$, which of the following is a possible value of $$a+b$$ if a and b are integers?

A. 6
B. 10
C. 14
D. 18
E. 20

Too many variables! I will try to look at the big picture here.
We have two equations:
$$ax + by = 17$$ ,
$$2ax + 3by = 43$$

Twice of (ax + by) will be 34 so we get that 'by' must be 43 - 34 = 9
If by = 9, ax must be 17 - 9 = 8

Now, x/y = 2/3
ax/by = (a/b)*(2/3) = 8/9
So a/b = 4/3

Since a and b are integers, many such solutions are possible: a = 4, b = 3 OR a = 8, b = 6 etc. a+b will be 7/14/21...
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Karishma
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor

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Joined: 29 Jun 2017
Posts: 454
GPA: 4
WE: Engineering (Transportation)
Re: Find a possible value of a+b given the equations  [#permalink]

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11 Sep 2017, 03:59
SravnaTestPrep wrote:
If $$ax + by = 17$$ ,
$$2ax + 3by = 43$$

and $$3x =2y$$, which of the following is a possible value of $$a+b$$ if a and b are integers?

A. 6
B. 10
C. 14
D. 18
E. 20

ax+by=17
2ax+3by=43

multiply first equation by 2 and subtract from 2nd => by=9
multiply 1st equation by 3 and subtract 2nd from it => ax=8

ax=8 and by=9

3x=2y

ax=8
a3x=24
a2y=24
ay=12

ay=12 by=9
a:b= 12/9
starting from least a:b can be => 4:3, 8:6 , 12:9
but second is is that in which we are interested in

a:b = 8:6
a=8 b = 6 a+b =14 OPTION C IS THE ANSWER
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Re: Find a possible value of a+b given the equations   [#permalink] 11 Sep 2017, 03:59
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