In a cookie-eating contest, there are 200 cookies provided

a 20t-15t = 20

t = 4 mint. thus 20*4 = 80 cookies.

A it is.

A is sufficient
Let t be time taken ,a and b be cookies eaten by each participant
20t-15t = a-b=20
t=4 mins
hence a the winner eats 4*20 = 80 cookies

From Statement 1
Work/Speed=Time
A: 20/min
B:15/min
We have the rate of each contestant, total number of cookies and differential no. of cookies eaten.
We have every info needed to find out total number of cookies eaten by A.
---> Sufficient


From Statement 2
Not helpful. Insufficient.

this is how it will work out if you pursue the solution from statement 1...
Speed*Time=Work
speed*time of A - speed*time of B = Difference in no. of cookies eaten
Let t=time taken for contest
20t-15t=20
5t=20
t=4

20*4=80cookies
A ate 80 cookies.

Good question. kudos....

Total number of cookies = 200. This is irrelevant information because A and B did not finish all the cookies.
A - B = 20
A = total cookies eaten by A
B = total cookies eaten by B

(1) A = 20t
B =15t
20t - 15t = 20 => t = 4
A = 20x4 = 80
Sufficient

(2) Not Sufficient

(A) is the answer.

In a cookie-eating contest, there are 200 cookies provided to each contestant. Both start at the same time. Contestant A wins the contest by eating 20 more cookies than Contestant B. How many cookies did the winner eat altogether?

(1) Contestant A ate his cookies at a constant rate of 20 cookies per minute and Contestant B ate her cookies at a constant rate of 15 cookies per minute.

(2) Contestant A is younger than Contestant B.

The OA (Statement 1 is sufficient) indicates that in 4 minutes there will be a gap of twenty cookies. I don't agree. The question doesn't indicate when the contestants should stop. In this sense, A could have eaten 140 cookies in 7 minutes ,and B could have eaten 120 cookies in 8 minutes.
IMO, the answer is E.

What do you think?

Source: www.grockit.com

Actually.
The question itself gives us the condition that when the contest should end i.e. as soon as there is a difference of 20 cookies, the contest will end.
As soon as the contest ends, just count the cookies eaten by the winner.
Hope that helps

You are wrong. That is not a condition. The question is just saying that contestant A won and that he ate 20 more cookies than B. If it were just a condition, it would have not said that A won the contest and have said that the winner is the one who eats 20 more cookies.

I dont think Marcab is wrong here.

question says: 'A wins contest by eating 20 more cookies.'
Statement 1 says: A eats 5 extra cookies per minute. The only logical deduction out of these, that can be made is: competition lasted 4 minutes. Thus we know winnder must have ate 20*4 cookies in the given time.
Statement 2 says: Some crap. irrelavant. Not sufficient.

Therefore ans A it is.

Yes S1 is sufficient as said in previous posts...

Just wish to add few more points to that...

I guess you are concerned about below statement as you said:
In this sense, A could have eaten 140 cookies in 7 minutes ,and B could have eaten 120 cookies in 8 minutes.


But you gotta notice one thing.. This is a competition so both contestant A and B will be given same amount of time with difference of 20 of cookies(as stated in question)

So sequence ll be like this

Min 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
A 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
B 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120

How come you can compare two times of two different contestant? tats not logical.

So 4 min A will be lead with 20 cookies of total 80 cookies...

I'm going to add my 2 cent to the mix.

I think this is a very poor quality question, from a source about which I have many suspicions.

I agree with danzig and disagree with most of the rest of the discussion on the page.

This is supposed be a GMAT Problem Solving practice question. The GMAT will always be absolutely precise in specifying the relevant parameters of any situation --- they will make crystal clear everything they intend to make clear, and leave ambiguous or unknown exactly what they intend.

From the juxtaposition of the question and the explanation accompanying the OA, it's apparent that this question makes loads of assumptions that are not made crystal clear.

First of all, the nature of this contest ---- is this a race against the clock with a fixed time? or is it the type of eating context in which each contestant keeps eating until it is no longer physically possible to put more food in? All of this is unclear.

As for the sentence that has garnered a great deal of attention:
Contestant A wins the contest by eating 20 more cookies than Contestant B

Does this merely indicate the margin of victory? For example, consider the sentence: "The Mets won their game against the Cardinal by scoring four runs in the seventh." In that sentence, the four runs merely indicate the margin of victory, but in no way are we specifying that this particular margin is an absolutely necessary condition of victory. Could one read this sentence about "20 cookies" as specifying a defining requirement of victory in this contest? Well, yes, you could read it that way, but if that is an essential piece of information for solving the question, a defining condition of the scenario, then it must be stated in a way that eliminates all ambiguity. Stating the information in a way that allows for multiple legitimate readings, and only one of those leads to a proper solution --- that is the hallmark of a very poor question.

This question is a mess. Nothing is specified, and no conclusion can be drawn. The only possible answer is (E). I believe your GMAT prep would be well served by finding a difference source of questions.

Let me know if anyone has any questions or wants to argue anything.

Mike

I am assuming A & B are the only contestants because the question says "both" start at the same time.

1) Both of them start at the same time and the difference between them per minute is 5 cookies. So for that difference to be 20 cookies, the contest will have to be going on for 4 minutes. In this time A will have eaten 80 cookie. Sufficient.

2) Clearly insufficient.

Answer is A.

A is is.
In 1 min the difference in cookies eaten by A and B is 5 i.e. 20 -15.
The winning margin is 20. So it will take 4 min. for contest to get over or to reach 20 cookies difference.
Now, cookies eaten by A in 4 min. 20 *4 = 80.

Nah, I think answer is A

Check this out

So according to statement 1, A eats 5 more cookies per minute now if he ate 20 more cookies then he must have ate cookies for 4 minutes. So in 4 minutes the guy ate 80 cookies

Hence answer is A

I'm not even discussing B at this point

Cheers!
J

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