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# M04-36

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Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 57281

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16 Sep 2014, 00:24
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Difficulty:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

68% (02:05) correct 32% (02:14) wrong based on 221 sessions

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One fisherman was telling his friends that he caught a fish that had a 60 feet long head and a tail which was equal to the length of the head plus half the length of the body. If the body was half the length of the whole fish, what is the length of the fish?

A. 120
B. 200
C. 240
D. 400
E. 480

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16 Sep 2014, 00:24
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Official Solution:

One fisherman was telling his friends that he caught a fish that had a 60 feet long head and a tail which was equal to the length of the head plus half the length of the body. If the body was half the length of the whole fish, what is the length of the fish?

A. 120
B. 200
C. 240
D. 400
E. 480

The fish has three parts: the head, body and tail: $$\text{head}+\text{body}+\text{tail}=\text{total length}$$;

Say the length of the body is $$b$$.

Now, since the body was half the size of the whole fish, then $$\text{total length}=2b$$;

Next, since its tail equals to the length of the head plus half the length of the body then $$\text{tail}=60+0.5b$$;

So we have that:

$$\text{head}+\text{body}+\text{tail}=\text{total length}$$;

$$60+b+(60+0.5b)=2b$$;

$$b=240$$;

$$\text{total length}=2b=480$$.

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GMAT 1: 640 Q45 V34
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22 Jun 2018, 11:38
I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.
Intern
Joined: 08 Mar 2018
Posts: 3

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23 Oct 2018, 08:57
Bunuel
The Question says "60 feet long head and a tail : Length of the head + tail = 60 which is equals to Head + 1/2 Body
here: can you please explain how you got Tail= 60 + 0.5body
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Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 57281

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23 Oct 2018, 20:49
namanjain555 wrote:
Bunuel
The Question says "60 feet long head and a tail : Length of the head + tail = 60 which is equals to Head + 1/2 Body
here: can you please explain how you got Tail= 60 + 0.5body

The question says that tail equals to the length of the head plus half the length of the body then $$\text{tail}=60+0.5b$$;
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04 Aug 2019, 09:16
Bunuel wrote:
One fisherman was telling his friends that he caught a fish that had a 60 feet long head and a tail which was equal to the length of the head plus half the length of the body. If the body was half the length of the whole fish, what is the length of the fish?

A. 120
B. 200
C. 240
D. 400
E. 480

This is the sort of problem that lends itself to being solved backwards from the answers, but you still have to make sure you answer the question that is being asked. Namely, we want to know the length of the entire fish, not just the unknown length of its body.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand. Assuming that the fish is 400 feet altogether, that means, working backward from the question, that the body length must be 200 feet. Stretching back even more, we can now deduce that the tail must be 60 + 100, or 160, feet in length. Do the numbers add up? With a head that is 60 feet, all we have to do is add up the parts: 60 (head) + 200 (body) + 160 (tail) = 420. Close, but no cigar.

For the sake of illustration, what if we went in the wrong direction now and tested (C) instead of (E)? If the fish were 240 feet in length, then the body would be 120 feet, and the tail would be 120 feet (60 + half of 120) as well. Now the entire fish would be 60 (head) + 120 (body) + 120 (tail) = 300. Whereas before, with (D), we were 20 feet off, now we are 60 feet off, so we know we need to add body length instead of decrease it.

If we wanted to test (E), 480, we could, applying the same process as before. If the fish were 480 feet long altogether, then the body would be 240 feet, and the tail would be 180 feet (60 + half of 240). Since 60 (head) + 240 (body) + 180 (tail) = 480, we know we have the right answer.

It may not be as quick or efficient as solving for an unknown through the official answer posted above, but if you ever draw a blank, at least leaning on logic can get you the correct answer in a reasonable amount of time.

- Andrew
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Joined: 30 Aug 2018
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18 Aug 2019, 20:23
PrayasT wrote:
I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.

such ques do come in the actual GMAT ?? if yes then what could be the level ??
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19 Aug 2019, 03:58
cancerian wrote:
PrayasT wrote:
I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.

such ques do come in the actual GMAT ?? if yes then what could be the level ??

cancerian - Sure, such questions do come up on the GMAT™. See, for example, a similar type of question from the OG, PS04305, which starts, "Seven pieces of rope..." (You could probably also search for that exact quote on this site and bring up the question, along with various members' analyses of it.) That question, like this one, according to the difficulty meter above, is rated Hard or Difficult. Since I do not work for GMAC®, I cannot be sure how the difficulty for a question is established, but I suspect it is based on the percent of correct responses to that particular question when it goes through the experimental testing phase--those questions everyone gets during the GMAT™ that do not count toward the score for that test.

- Andrew
Re: M04-36   [#permalink] 19 Aug 2019, 03:58
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# M04-36

Moderators: chetan2u, Bunuel