Hey adkikani

There are a total of 3 teams and 3 racers each. Since, we are concerned with the overall score of
the team, we take into account the points of all the players. The overall score of the team involves
the score of the individual players.

We are told that a team earned 6-n points whenever one of its members finished in nth place. It
has been given that 1<= n<= 5, so we are concerned about the first 5 positions overall.

So, the guy who finishes first will get 1st, gets 6-1 = 5 points. Similarly, the person who finishes 2nd
finishes 4 points and so on. Since we need to minimize the score of a team, the other two teams must
get a maximum score(which according to the question stem is 6).

Let's say
Team-A has the players who come 1st and 5th, get 5+1 or 6 points.
Team-B has the players who come 2nd and 4th, get 4+2 or 6 points.
Team-C will have the player who came 3rd and get 3 points.

Hope this helps you!
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A detailed video explanation can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJX8a4XlkL8

The person who finishes 1st gets 5 points, the person who finishes 2nd gets 4 points, etc., etc... the 5th place finisher gets 1 point, and no other runner recieves any points.

When you see a math question that asks about minimums, immediately think about maximums, as well (and vice versa).

The total number of poins is 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15

We're told that the maximum score for one team is 6 points. The minumum score would equal 15 minus the scores of TWO teams that earn a maximum score. The minimum = 15 - 6 - 6 = 3

Its important to check and make sure that two teams can indeed get six points. If you line up 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 you'll see that runners for one team could place 1st and 5th, runners for a second team could place 2nd and 4th, and a third team could get three points by having a runner who places 3rd. Answer D checks out.
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I arrived at the answer very easily... please let me know if my approach is right.

Question asked: ' least possible score a team could have earned'... so it is asking what a single team can earn and given that 3 members in a team is participating.

condition: in worst condition one can score --> 6-5=1
so 3 persons in a team.. 3*1=3

Hi venkateshraviraj,

The prompt tells us that there are 3 teams with 3 players each - so up to 9 players could enter a race. However, ONLY the FIRST 5 to finish the race scored points. The amount of points rewarded is based on the given formula:

A team scores (6-N) points for each racer who finishes in Nth place (1 <= N <= 5).

1st = 5 points
2nd = 4 points
3rd = 3 points
4th = 2 points
5th = 1 point
6th - 9th place = 0 points

Total = 15 possible points

Thus, it's NOT correct to assume that the least points an individual could receive is 1... it's actually 0. If we had no other information to work with, then the least points that a team could earn would be 0 (if all 3 members finished in 6th - 9th place).

HOWEVER, we're also told that none of the 3 teams scored more than 6 points. There IS a way for two of the teams to score 6 points each (re: one team finishes 1st and 5th, one team finishes 2nd and 4th). Thus, the remaining 3 points (for 3rd place) would go to the final team - and the minimum number of points that could be earned would be 3.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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I finally understood after reading this explanation. The moment you realise that there is one race and each team should score max possible (6 points) to make the third team minimum, You will understand that one team scores (1+5), other team (2+4) and the last team will have only one racer that scores 3 points and 2 racers not scoring anything.

No wonder these questions are gems!
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Hello,
Since the problem clearly states that there were no ties, no two teams could get equal points. Hence the solution must be:
-> team A -6 points
-> team B- 5 points
Hence, team C-> 15-6-5=4 points Answer.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Hi Dany11,

The prompt tells us that there are 3 teams with 3 players each - so up to 9 players could enter a race. However, only the first 5 to finish the race scored points. The amount of points rewarded is based on the given formula:

A team scores (6-N) points for each RACER who finishes in Nth place (1 <= N <= 5).

1st = 5 points
2nd = 4 points
3rd = 3 points
4th = 2 points
5th = 1 point
6th - 9th place = 0 points

Total = 15 possible points

Since there are no ties, two RACERS cannot finish in the same 'spot' (for example, two racers cannot both finish in 3rd place). However, that does NOT mean that two TEAMS must have a different total number of points.

We're told that no team scored more than 6 points, but there IS a way for two of the teams to score 6 points each (re: one team finishes 1st and 5th, one team finishes 2nd and 4th). Thus, the remaining 3 points (for 3rd place) would go to the final team - and the MINIMUM number of points that could be earned would be 3.

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

Under what category could one classify this problem? I got it wrong on a practice test and don't really know how to study this type of question because I'm confused what skill it relates to.

14. Min/Max Problems

• Theory
  Maximizing/Minimizing Strategies on the GMAT - All in One Topic!
  
  • Questions
    Worst Case Scenario Questions
    DS Questions
    PS Questions

[/textarea]

For other topics:
ALL YOU NEED FOR QUANT ! ! !
Ultimate GMAT Quantitative Megathread
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total number of points available: =5+4+3+2+1+0=15

we need to maximize the remaining two teams.
Hence, 6+6=12

Thus, min value=3

3(9-n) < 10 : Solve for this
9-n < 10/3
n > 5
Hence minimum value is 6

Hi lynnglenda,

Can you go into a bit more detail with your explanation? I ask because your answer is not among the 5 choices - and if you can talk me through your 'steps', then we should be able to define the conceptual errors in your thinking.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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There are a total of 3 x 3 = 9 members
If a member of a team finishes in:
Position 1 => Points = 5
Position 2 => Points = 4
Position 3 => Points = 3
Position 4 => Points = 2
Position 5 => Points = 1

The other 4 participants got no points

Thus, total points in consideration = 1+2+3+4+5 = 15

Since no team earned more than 6 points, the maximum points they could have earned = 6 points
(There are many ways for that, one such way being: Team-1 has players with 4, 2 and 0 points; Team-2 has players with 5, 1 and 0)

Thus, with 2 teams at 6 points each, the 3rd team will have 15 - 6 - 6 = 3 points (minimum)

Answer D
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I am not sure if my reasoning is correct but it got me the right answer.

So it asks for the least possible score a team could earn.
I assume there are three events and each person of a given team finishes the 5th on each of the events.

Person1: 6-5=1 points earned.
Person2: 6-5=1 points earned.
Person3: 6-5=1 points earned.

1+1+1=3 total points earned, hence, D.

Then it should say that, right?