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Updated on: 23 Oct 2012, 05:14
4
25
00:00

Difficulty:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

65% (01:59) correct 35% (02:08) wrong based on 1657 sessions

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28 Feb 2013, 01:50
9
7
DelSingh wrote:
Can someone please explain how you compute 207/1.15 under two minutes quickly? I think my division need help

Transform decimal into fraction: $$1.15=1\frac{15}{100}=1\frac{3}{20}=\frac{23}{20}$$.

$$Bill*1.15=207$$ --> $$Bill*\frac{23}{20}=207$$ --> $$Bill*\frac{23}{20}=9*23$$ --> $$\frac{Bill}{20}=9$$ --> $$Bill=180$$.

Hope it helps.
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Re: One question from OG 11th ed.  [#permalink]

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15 Mar 2011, 08:53
13
7
heygirl wrote:
I keep getting 11.73 as the answer for this one.
Here is what I did:
First I calulated 15% of 207, that is 31.05 and subtracted it from 207. Thus the amount now is 175.95.

175.95/15=11.73.But, OA is B

Anyone knows whaT I'm missing here?

Just say the bill was for $x Including the gratuity of 15% will make the bill amount: 1.15x 1.15x=207 x=180 So; the actual bill without gratuity was 180. According to you, it should be 175.95, which is not correct. Think it like this; Suppose you have 100 dollars, you earn a 15% profit on that. Now you have$115.

If we make a question out of it;
$115 includes a 15% net profit, what was the original amount. With your method; it would be 115*0.15=17.25 115-17.25 =$97.75. But, you had $100, right? Thus, you will have to calculate like this; Suppose you had x dollars; 1.15x = 115 x = 115/1.15 =$100

You initially had $100. _________________ ##### General Discussion Intern Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 12 Schools: IMD '16 (A) GMAT 1: 730 Q47 V44 Re: One question from OG 11th ed. [#permalink] ### Show Tags 05 Oct 2010, 07:29 4 2 An easier way to solve this is by backcalculating using the answers. Start at the second highest (i.e. 12) so if it turns out to be too high you can eliminate the higher ones and if it's too low you can eliminate the lower ones. 15 people ate. Assuming$12 each without gratuity, then the bill was 15 * 12 = 180

Now add the gratuity: 15% of 180 = 27 (you can quickly see this by doing 10% + 5% = 18 + 9). So 180 + 27 = 207 and the answer is 12.
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Re: One question from OG 11th ed.  [#permalink]

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15 Mar 2011, 08:38
I keep getting 11.73 as the answer for this one.
Here is what I did:
First I calulated 15% of 207, that is 31.05 and subtracted it from 207. Thus the amount now is 175.95.

175.95/15=11.73.But, OA is B

Anyone knows whaT I'm missing here?
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02 May 2012, 21:23
1
2
The mistake you have made is that you have calculated the gratuity on the final amount, instead of finding the amount on which gratuity was charged to get the final amount.

If the amount spent excluding the gratuity was x, then x(1.15) = 207
=> x = 207/1.15 = 180

Then the average price per person = 180/15 = 12

Option (B)
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03 May 2012, 02:48
1
GyanOne wrote:
The mistake you have made is that you have calculated the gratuity on the final amount, instead of finding the amount on which gratuity was charged to get the final amount.

If the amount spent excluding the gratuity was x, then x(1.15) = 207
=> x = 207/1.15 = 180

Then the average price per person = 180/15 = 12

Option (B)

gratuity is charged on final amount then is it not obvious to calculate such as!

just wish to have clarification on the two :
1.) 270 - 15% of 270 = 175.95/ 15 = 11.73

2.) if 115 is 270 then 100 = 180 and 180/15 = 12

is it not the same thing ?
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Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was $207 including a 15% [#permalink] ### Show Tags 03 May 2012, 07:51 6 3 enigma123 wrote: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207 including a 15% gratuity for service. What was the average price per person, EXCLUDING the gratuity?

A. 11.73
B. 12
C. 13.8
D. 14
E. 15.87

How come the answer is B?

This is how I solved it and got A, which is incorrect.

$207 includes 15% gratuity so 0.15 * 207 = 31.05 Price EXCLUDING gratuity = 207 - 31.05 = 175.95 Average price per person = 175.95/15 = 11.73 I'll show You perhaps the most easiest way to solve such problem As it is a percentage problem so just take the initial price before the gratuity is 100 the as the gratuity is calculated on the final price, so as we assumed the final bill before adding gratuity is 100 so gratuity is 15% of 100 is 15 so the total price of meals is 115 so the given amount i.e 207 is for 115 then we have to calculate for 100 here we go for 115 207 for 100 x so by cross multiplication we get 115x=100*207 => x=100*207/110 by simplifying we get x as 180 which is the price of lunch before gratuity so the gratuity is 27 so as the question ask the average price person excluding gratuity is 180/15=12 so our answer is b hope its concise and clear . if u satisfied with my effort don't hesitate to give +1 kudos. Math Expert Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 58315 Re: Price of lunch [#permalink] ### Show Tags 03 May 2012, 12:56 8 2 kashishh wrote: GyanOne wrote: The mistake you have made is that you have calculated the gratuity on the final amount, instead of finding the amount on which gratuity was charged to get the final amount. If the amount spent excluding the gratuity was x, then x(1.15) = 207 => x = 207/1.15 = 180 Then the average price per person = 180/15 = 12 Option (B) gratuity is charged on final amount then is it not obvious to calculate such as! just wish to have clarification on the two : 1.) 270 - 15% of 270 = 175.95/ 15 = 11.73 2.) if 115 is 270 then 100 = 180 and 180/15 = 12 is it not the same thing ? Tip is charged on the bill. Consider this: the bill is$100 and tip is 15% means that total amount paid is 100+15=$115. The price of lunch for 15 people was$207 including a 15% gratuity for service. What was the average price per person, EXCLUDING the gratuity?
A. 11.73
B. 12
C. 13.8
D. 14
E. 15.87

Bill*1.15=$207 --> Bill=$180 --> per person=$180/15=$12.

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23 Oct 2012, 05:12
sachindia wrote:
Hi Bunuel,

I took a crazy 4.5 mins to solve this question.

recognizing x+/15x= bill amt took lot of time.. but after that crazy calculation took hell lot of my time.. nos are crazy in thsi Qs like 207, 1.15 .
how to solve questions like these quickly.

POE mentioned above is good though.
Regards,
Sachin

The price of lunch for 15 people was $207 including a 15% gratuity for service. What was the average price per person, EXCLUDING the gratuity? A. 11.73 B. 12 C. 13.8 D. 14 E. 15.87 First note that tip is charged on the bill. Consider this: the bill is$100 and tip is 15% means that total amount paid is 100+15=$115. $$Bill*1.15=207=23*9$$ --> $$Bill*\frac{115}{100}=23*9$$ --> $$Bill*\frac{23}{20}=23*9$$ --> $$Bill=20*9=180$$ --> the price per person is $$\frac{180}{15}=12$$. Answer: B. _________________ Senior Manager Status: Gonna rock this time!!! Joined: 22 Jul 2012 Posts: 423 Location: India GMAT 1: 640 Q43 V34 GMAT 2: 630 Q47 V29 WE: Information Technology (Computer Software) Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207 including a 15%  [#permalink]

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23 Oct 2012, 06:19
Thanks a lot Bunuel,

Had I known 23* 7 =207 , would have saved lot of time
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Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was $207 including a 15% [#permalink] ### Show Tags 23 Oct 2012, 06:22 sachindia wrote: Thanks a lot Bunuel, Had I known 23* 7 =207 , would have saved lot of time Actually it's 23*9=207. Factorizing 207 is good strategy and one could spot that it's divisible by 9 since the sum of the digits of 207 is divisible by 9. _________________ GMAT Tutor Status: Private GMAT Tutor Joined: 22 Oct 2012 Posts: 142 Location: India Concentration: Economics, Finance Schools: IIMA (A) GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47 Re: One question from OG 11th ed. [#permalink] ### Show Tags 23 Oct 2012, 20:18 1 1 heygirl wrote: I keep getting 11.73 as the answer for this one. Here is what I did: First I calulated 15% of 207, that is 31.05 and subtracted it from 207. Thus the amount now is 175.95. 175.95/15=11.73.But, OA is B Anyone knows whaT I'm missing here? I think the mistake you committed is a fairly common mistake. You calculated 15% gratuity on$207, which is not correct. Let's try to understand this.

These 15 people went for a lunch and ordered some really delicious dishes. They ate to their satisfaction and at last, asked the waiter to bring the bill. The waiter had done a lot in providing a good service to these people and as per the restaurant rules, he deserved 15% gratuity for service.

While the waiter had gone to bring the bill, these 15 guys figured out what all they had eaten till then and using the menu, totaled the amount they would need to pay. However, when the waiter arrived, he had a higher amount on the bill. Why? Because he had included a 15% gratuity also, which these 15 people had ignored in their calculations.

So, while these people calculated their bill amount to be, say, x, the waiter came up with a bill 1.15x.

So, now we are given that 1.15x = 207 =>x=180
Per person cost = 180/15 = 12.

The reason for telling this whole story is that you need to see what is the figure to which apply this 15%. This 15% has to be applied on figure which already existed before applying this 15%; in this case, the total amount of food they ate. The amount they paid was arrived after the application of this 15%; thus this amount existed only after application of 15% on some other number. So, you can't apply 15% to $207 because 15% was originally not applied to this number. A similar issue can be faced in the below problem: A scored 15% more than B. If A's score was 460, what was B's score? Here we can't say that B's score was 460 * (1-15%). That would be incorrect. Why? You can yourself see. What is 460*0.85. It is 391. So, cross checking, Is A 15% more than B? A=b*(1+15%) = 391*1.15 = 449.65, which is not equal to 460. So, where is the problem? The problem is that the question said that A is 15% more than B, not that B is 15% less than A. There's is a difference. (1)If A is 15% more than B, then A = 1.15B =>B=A/1.15 ~ 0.87A (2) If B is 15% less than B, then B = A (1-15%) = 0.85A So, we see that these two expressions are different. So, you have to be cautious when dealing with such statements. It is easier to say here that we limit ourselves to (1) in the question given but how do we do this in complex scenarios just like in the original question given? The common logic, as explained above, is that you need to think if a particular figure existed even before the application of the percentage; if yes, then it is independent of the percentage. For example, in A & B example question, we say that the score of A is 15% more than B. So, there is a score of B and when we increase it by 15%, we get score of A. But score of B exists before the application of percentage. So, coming back to the question, the total amount they paid i.e.$207 existed only after application of 15%, not before. Thus, 15% needs to be applied to some other variable to arrive at $207. I hope my long answer clarifies some doubts. If you have any other queries, please feel free to ask. Cheers, CJ _________________ Manager Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 65 Location: United States Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207.00, including a 15  [#permalink]

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27 Feb 2013, 21:31
Can someone please explain how you compute 207/1.15 under two minutes quickly? I think my division need help
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Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was $207.00, including a 15 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 07 May 2014, 15:06 1 1 For those who are intimidated by the division I found back solving to be very efficient for this problem. I started with D$14.00

14*15 = 210 210>207 and that doesn't even have the gratuity added.

So I know right there that D and E are out and a 20 cent deduction on choice C is probably still going to be too high.

Went to answer choice B. $12.00 12*15=180 15% of 180=27 180+72=207.00 Target Test Prep Representative Status: Founder & CEO Affiliations: Target Test Prep Joined: 14 Oct 2015 Posts: 8040 Location: United States (CA) Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207.00, including a 15  [#permalink]

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03 May 2016, 11:38
2
enigma123 wrote:
The price of lunch for 15 people was $207.00, including a 15 percent gratuity for service. What was the average price per person, EXCLUDING the gratuity? (A)$11.73
(B) $12.00 (C)$13.80
(D) $14.00 (E)$15.87

How come the answer is B?

This is how I solved it and got A, which is incorrect.

$207 includes 15% gratuity so 0.15 * 207 = 31.05 Price EXCLUDING gratuity = 207 - 31.05 = 175.95 Average price per person = 175.95/15 = 11.73 Solution: An easy way to solve this problem is to translate what is provided in the question into a mathematical equation. We know that the total bill for 15 people was 207 dollars, including the 15 percent gratuity. We use the value 1.15 in the equation below to account for the meal itself plus the gratuity. We can use x as the average cost per person for the meal without the gratuity. Thus, we can say: (1.15)(15)(x) = 207 (115/100)(15)(x) = 207 (115)(15)(x) = (207)(100) We can divide the entire equation by 3. Doing so gives us: (115)(5)(x) = (69)(100) We can divide the entire equation by 5 and we get: (115)x = (69)(20) We can again divide the entire equation by 5 and we get: (23)x = (69)(4) We can again divide the entire equation by 23 and we get: x = (3)(4) x = 12 Answer B _________________ # Scott Woodbury-Stewart Founder and CEO Scott@TargetTestPrep.com 122 Reviews 5-star rated online GMAT quant self study course See why Target Test Prep is the top rated GMAT quant course on GMAT Club. Read Our Reviews If you find one of my posts helpful, please take a moment to click on the "Kudos" button. Board of Directors Status: QA & VA Forum Moderator Joined: 11 Jun 2011 Posts: 4750 Location: India GPA: 3.5 WE: Business Development (Commercial Banking) Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207.00, including a 15  [#permalink]

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07 May 2016, 10:35
1
enigma123 wrote:
The price of lunch for 15 people was $207.00, including a 15 percent gratuity for service. What was the average price per person, EXCLUDING the gratuity? (A)$11.73
(B) $12.00 (C)$13.80
(D) $14.00 (E)$15.87

How come the answer is B?

This is how I solved it and got A, which is incorrect.

$207 includes 15% gratuity so 0.15 * 207 = 31.05 Price EXCLUDING gratuity = 207 - 31.05 = 175.95 Average price per person = 175.95/15 = 11.73 Quote:$207.00, including a 15 percent gratuity for service.

That means 115% = 207

So, 100% = $$\frac{207}{115}*100$$ => 180

Further it is given -

Quote:
price of lunch for 15 people was $207.00, including a 15 percent gratuity for service. So, Price of lunch for 15 people excluding 15 percent gratuity for service = $$180$$ Or, Price of lunch for 15 people excluding 15 percent gratuity for service = $$\frac{180}{15}$$ => $$12$$ Hence average price excluding gratuity for service is 12 _________________ Thanks and Regards Abhishek.... PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES FOR POSTING IN QA AND VA FORUM AND USE SEARCH FUNCTION BEFORE POSTING NEW QUESTIONS How to use Search Function in GMAT Club | Rules for Posting in QA forum | Writing Mathematical Formulas |Rules for Posting in VA forum | Request Expert's Reply ( VA Forum Only ) Director Status: Professional GMAT Tutor Affiliations: AB, cum laude, Harvard University (Class of '02) Joined: 10 Jul 2015 Posts: 706 Location: United States (CA) Age: 39 GMAT 1: 770 Q47 V48 GMAT 2: 730 Q44 V47 GMAT 3: 750 Q50 V42 GRE 1: Q168 V169 WE: Education (Education) Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207.00, including a 15  [#permalink]

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25 May 2016, 21:46
Attached is a visual that should help.
Attachments

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 9.42.14 PM.png [ 51.22 KiB | Viewed 1948 times ]

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Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was $207.00, including a 15 [#permalink] ### Show Tags 28 Aug 2017, 14:24 1 Top Contributor enigma123 wrote: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207.00, including a 15 percent gratuity for service. What was the average price per person, EXCLUDING the gratuity?

(A) $11.73 (B)$12.00
(C) $13.80 (D)$14.00
(E) $15.87 Many students will incorrectly reason that, since$207 is 15% GREATER than the pre-tip total, then the pre-tip total must be 15% LESS than $207 (i.e., pre-tip total = 85% of$207)

This is a common misconception that goes something like this: If A is k percent greater than B, then B must be k percent less than A.

The truth of the matter is as follows: If A is k percent greater than B, then B is NOT k percent less than A.

MY SOLUTION:
Let x = the total BEFORE the gratuity.

A 15% gratuity = 0.15x
So, the TOTAL cost = x + 0.15x
In other words, the TOTAL cost = 1.15x
So, we can write 1.15x = 207
So, x = 207/1.15

NOTE: The GMAT often rewards people for using fractions rather than decimals. The reason for this is that most people are very uncomfortable working with fractions.

So......
207/1.15 = 207/(1 3/20) [I converted the decimal to a fraction]
= 207/(23/20)
= 207 x (20/23)

IMPORTANT: At this point, the calculation looks very hard. But first notice that (23)(10) = 230. In other words, 230 = the sum of ten 23's
Also notice that 207 is 23 less than 230
So, 207 = the sum of nine 23's
In other words 207 = (23)(9)
So, we have . . .
= (23)(9) x (20/23)
= 9 x 20 [the 23's cancel out]
= 180

Yes, these calculations look cumbersome, but that's only because I added a lot of extra information. In reality, students with strong fraction skills can perform most (if not all) of these calculations in their heads.

Since the total PRE-GRATUITY price = $180, the price PER PERSON = 180/15 = 12 Answer: Cheers, Brent _________________ Test confidently with gmatprepnow.com Re: The price of lunch for 15 people was$207.00, including a 15   [#permalink] 28 Aug 2017, 14:24

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