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# If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his

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Joined: 02 Dec 2012
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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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07 Dec 2012, 05:08
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Difficulty:

5% (low)

Question Stats:

94% (01:36) correct 6% (02:04) wrong based on 1370 sessions

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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister. Together they now weigh 278 pounds. What is Jake's present weight, in pounds?

(A) 131
(B) 135
(C) 139
(D) 147
(E) 188
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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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28 Apr 2016, 07:22
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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister. Together they now weigh 278 pounds. What is Jake's present weight, in pounds?

(A) 131
(B) 135
(C) 139
(D) 147
(E) 188

This problem can be solved as a simple word problem in which we must convert words to math. Before we create our equations, we want to define some variables.

J = Jake’s current weight, in pounds

S = Sister’s current weight, in pounds

We are told that “If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister." We put this into an equation:

J – 8 = 2S

We can isolate J by adding 8 to 2S:

J = 2S + 8 (Equation 1)

Next, we are told that “Together they now weigh 278 pounds.” We can also put this into an equation.

J + S = 278 (Equation 2)

To solve this equation, we can substitute 2S + 8 from Equation 1 for the variable J in Equation 2:

2S + 8 + S = 278

3S = 270

S = 90

We now know that the sister weighs S = 90 pounds, and we can plug that value into either equation to determine J. Let’s plug 90 for S into equation 2:

J + 90 = 278

J = 188

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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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07 Dec 2012, 05:12
If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister. Together they now weigh 278 pounds. What is Jake's present weight, in pounds?

(A) 131
(B) 135
(C) 139
(D) 147
(E) 188

Let J be Jake's present weight and S be his sister's weight, then we can construct two linear equations:
J=2S+8;
J+S=278.

Subtract one from another: S=278-2S-8 --> S=90 --> J=188.

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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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11 Sep 2014, 07:10
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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister. Together they now weigh 278 pounds. What is Jake's present weight, in pounds?

(A) 131
(B) 135
(C) 139
(D) 147
(E) 188

(x-8) = 2s

s+x = 278 --> s= 278-x

x-8 = 2(278-x)

3x=564

x=188
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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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24 Sep 2014, 19:44
..................... Jack ......................... Sister

Now ................ x ................................. y

8 yrs before....... (x-8)

2y = x - 8

x = 2y+8

Given that 2y + 8 + y = 270

y = 90

x = 188

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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his siste  [#permalink]

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04 Jan 2015, 12:55
3
Hi All,

This question can be solved with fairly straight-forward Algebra (as the other solutions have proven). It can also be solved by TESTing THE ANSWERS and a bit of logic.

We're told that the total weight of Jake and his sister is 278 pounds. We're also told that if Jake lost 8 pounds, then he would weight TWICE as much as his sister. This means that, right now, Jake weighs MORE than TWICE his sister. We're asked for Jake's current weight.

Since Jake weighs more than twice his sister, his weight is MORE than 2/3 of the 278 pounds. Looking at these answer choices, I would TEST one of the bigger values first... Under normal circumstances, that would be Answer D. With a quick estimate though we can see that 2/3 of 270 pounds would be 180 pounds, but Jake has to weight MORE than that, so I'm going to TEST Answer E first....

If Jake weights 188 pounds...
Jake - 8 = 180 pounds....
Sister = 90 pounds
90 + 180 + 8 = 278 pounds
This is a MATCH for the information in the prompt, so Jake MUST weight 188 pounds.

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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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04 Jun 2017, 01:25
2
You can also test the answers.
When you realize that when you choose 188 for Jake's weight you get from the equations, a nice round number for his sister age and the work involved is fast:
J-8=2S, where J stands for Jake and S for his sister --> 188-8=2S --> S=90.
Now you can plug in the obtained value in the second equation: J+S= 278 --> As we have chosen 188 for Jake and got 90 pounds for his sister--> 188+90=278. This is a match. Option E is the correct answer.
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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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21 Sep 2017, 01:06
let Jack's Weight be J
His sister weight be S
J-8 = 2S ----1
J+S = 278 ---2
Then,
J= 2S+8
2S+8+S = 278
S= 270/3
S=90
then J = 188
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If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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16 Nov 2017, 06:41
2
One of my favorite method to attempt questions is by using as low level an approach as possible:

- On this question we know that 278 is the current sum of Jake's and his sister weights

- We also know that 270 is the sum of their weights if Jake loses 8 pounds

- Since 270 equals 2 parts from Jake's weight and 1 part from his sister weight so we can have following ratio

- Jake: 2 parts of 270 (180) and Sister: 1 part of 270 (90)

- So Jake's current weight will be those 2 parts (180) plus the weight that he has not lost yet (8) = 188 (option E)

- In fact we don't even need to calculate 188. Since we know that Jake's weight is at least 180 and since none of the other options is anywhere close to 180, so our answer is automatically option - E. Moreover, if you are pressed for time then you don't even have to consider 8. You can use the approximation technique to divide 278 into 3 equal parts which will be about ~93 and so Jake's weight is approximately 186 (and so only option E works)
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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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17 Jan 2019, 06:42
Top Contributor
If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister. Together they now weigh 278 pounds. What is Jake's present weight, in pounds?

(A) 131
(B) 135
(C) 139
(D) 147
(E) 188

Here's a solution that uses one variable.

Let x = Jake's present weight in pounds
So, x - 8 = Jake's hypothetical weight IF he were to lose 8 pounds

If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister.
In other words, the sister weighs HALF as much as Jake's hypothetical weight of x - 8 pounds
So, (x - 8)/2 = sister's present weight

Together they NOW weigh 278 pounds.
So, Jake's present weight + sister's present weight = 278
So, x + (x - 8)/2 = 278
Eliminate the fraction by multiplying both sides by 2 to get: 2x + (x - 8) = 556
Simplify: 3x - 8 = 556
Add 8 to both sides: 3x = 564
Solve: x = 564/3 = 188

Cheers,
Brent
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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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17 Jan 2019, 09:44
If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his sister. Together they now weigh 278 pounds. What is Jake's present weight, in pounds?

(A) 131
(B) 135
(C) 139
(D) 147
(E) 188

$$? = 2M$$

$$\left\{ \matrix{ \,2M - 8 = 2S \hfill \cr \,2M + S = 278 \hfill \cr} \right.\,\,\,\,\, \cong \,\,\,\,\left\{ \matrix{ \,M - S = 4 \hfill \cr \,2M + S = 278 \hfill \cr} \right.\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathop \Rightarrow \limits^{\left( + \right)} \,\,\,\,\,\left( {{2 \over 3}} \right)3M = \left( {{2 \over 3}} \right)\left( {270 + 12} \right)\,\,\,\,\, \Rightarrow \,\,\,\,\,? = 2M = 2 \cdot 94 = 188$$

We follow the notations and rationale taught in the GMATH method.

Regards,
Fabio.
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Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his  [#permalink]

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14 May 2019, 00:46
I loved it how FANewJersey has put this question in, option E is indeed pretty far from others and if hard pressed on time such a trick can indeed be really handy
Re: If Jake loses 8 pounds, he will weigh twice as much as his   [#permalink] 14 May 2019, 00:46
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