If x dollars is invested at 10 percent for one year and y

Hi All,

While this is an old prompt, it can be solved by TESTing THE ANSWERS.

We're given a number of facts to work with:
1) $2,000 is invested in 2 different accounts.
2) The accounts pay 10% and 8% annual interest (calculated annually, for lack of any additional info)
3) After 1 year, the 10% account will generate $56 MORE than the 8% account.

We're asked for the amount of money invested in the 8% account.

To start, we can do a simple, hypothetical calculation. If we invested $1,000 in each account....
10% of $1,000 = $100
8% of $1,000 = $80
....then the difference would be $20. This is TOO SMALL (it's supposed to be $56), thus MORE than $1,000 is invested at 10% and LESS is invested at 8%. Eliminate Answers D and E.

Among the 3 remaining Answers, let's TEST Answer B: $800

IF....$800 is invested in the 8% account....
10% of $1200 = $120
8% of $800 = $64
...then the difference would be $56, which is an exact MATCH for what we were told. So this MUST be the answer.

Final Answer:

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