Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 00:39 It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 00:39
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
prasannar
Joined: 05 Jan 2008
Last visit: 23 Aug 2012
Posts: 352
Own Kudos:
4,005
 [18]
Posts: 352
Kudos: 4,005
 [18]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
15
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
avatar
fall10phd
Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Last visit: 11 Apr 2009
Posts: 1
Own Kudos:
9
 [9]
Posts: 1
Kudos: 9
 [9]
8
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
avatar
pmenon
Joined: 28 Dec 2005
Last visit: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 692
Own Kudos:
600
 [5]
Given Kudos: 2
Posts: 692
Kudos: 600
 [5]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
4
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
User avatar
abhijit_sen
Joined: 10 Sep 2007
Last visit: 10 May 2015
Posts: 456
Own Kudos:
958
 [1]
GMAT 1: 690 Q50 V34
Posts: 456
Kudos: 958
 [1]
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Suppose rate of work for per day Matt = M & Rate of work per day for Peter = P
Together in a Day they can finish = P + M units
Total Work Done in 20 Days = 20(P+M)
Total Work Done in 12 Days = 12(P+M)
Work Done by Peter in 10 Days = 10P

Since total work is same we can say that 20(P+M) = 12(P+M) + 10P => 8M = 2P => P = 4M
So total work done by them together in 20 Days = 20(4M+M) = 100M
Since Pete does 4M unit of work per day, it will take him 25 Days (100M/4M) to finish up the work.

Answer D.
User avatar
bigfernhead
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Last visit: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 518
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 5
Posts: 518
Kudos: 2,090
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Isn't this the same question? time-work-61136.html#p442431 But why do the answers differ...

pmenon
together, they can do a piece in 20 days, i.e. 1/m + 1/p = 1/20

In 12 days, they can finish 12*(1/20) = 3/5 of the piece. After Matt leaves, 2/5 still needs to be done by Peter, which he does in 10 days.

10/(2/5) = 25
User avatar
alpha_plus_gamma
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Last visit: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 298
Own Kudos:
Concentration: MC, PE, VC
Posts: 298
Kudos: 631
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
bigfernhead
Isn't this the same question? time-work-61136.html#p442431 But why do the answers differ...

Because Matt and Peter have some issues working together :lol: ..Just kidding.

Note that this problem is asking the the time taken by thr guy who did NOT stop working after 12 days while the question in link is asking the time taken by the guy who stopped working after 12 days.
User avatar
lgon
Joined: 14 Nov 2008
Last visit: 25 Jun 2012
Posts: 108
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 3
Concentration: Entrepreneurship
Schools:Stanford...Wait, I will come!!!
Posts: 108
Kudos: 657
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Best way is this. :)
1) Get the unit of quantity of work. Make it a number which you find LCM of the given digits.
2) Calculate the rate of work for each person.
And then calculate what is asked.

So as per above,
Lets assume that 20*12=240 unit of work is there.
Assume rate of work per day for Matt is m, and for Peter is p;
so..
Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. implies..
(m+p)*20= 240
m+p=12
Now, peter works for 22 day while, matt works for 12 days.
so, 22p+12m=240
Solving the equations, we find the value of m and p as 2.4, and 9.6 unit of work/day respectively.
So peter will take, 240/9.6=25 days.


prasannar
Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. After they have worked together for 12 days Matt stops and Peter completes the remaining work in 10 days. In how many days Peter complete the work separately.

26days

27days

23days

25days

24 days

What is the best way to solve these problems?
User avatar
cicerone
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Last visit: 10 May 2019
Posts: 163
Own Kudos:
311
 [1]
Posts: 163
Kudos: 311
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Work done by M&P in 12 days = 12/20 = 3/5

Remaining 2/5 is done by P alone in 10 days.

So P alone can do the entire work in (5/2) X 10 = 25 days
User avatar
h2polo
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 08 Mar 2012
Posts: 102
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 16
Posts: 102
Kudos: 373
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
24.Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. After they have worked together for 12 days Matt stops and Peter completes the remaining work in 10 days. In how many days Peter complete the work separately.
26days
27days
23days
25days
24 days

Rate Together * # of days working together + Rate of Peter * # of days working alone = 1 completed job

let P = 3 of hours Peter can complete one job alone

(1/20)*12 + (1/P)*10 = 1

P = 25
avatar
eddiebeherano
Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Last visit: 23 Feb 2010
Posts: 2
Posts: 2
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Together they complete the job in 20 days means they complete 12/20 of the job after 12 days.

Peter completes the remaining (8/20) of the job in 10 days which means that the whole job(1) can be completed in X days.

<=> 8/20->10 <=> X=10/(8/20)= 25 Thus the answer is D.
1 -> X
avatar
hafizkarim
Joined: 18 Jan 2012
Last visit: 04 Mar 2025
Posts: 20
Own Kudos:
765
 [2]
Given Kudos: 27
Location: United States
Posts: 20
Kudos: 765
 [2]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
To me, the most intuitive approach to solve work /rate problems is to use smart numbers.
Then we need to find the work rate - work done each entity in 1 day. The subsequent steps are then very easy .

If 2 entities A and B work together, then Work done by A in one day + Work Done by B in one day = Total work done by A and B in one day.
Example - If a machine produces 10 widgets per day and another machine produces 20 widgets per day, then working together both machines can produce 30 (10 + 20) widgets per day.


Let's choose a nr that is divisible by all the numbers given in the question stem - 20,12,10
LCM of 20,12,10 = 60
Let's assume that Total work = 60 units.
Matt and Peter work together to complete the work in 20 days. So the work done by both of them together is 3 units per day (60/20)
Now we are almost done

Matt and Peter worked together for 12 days. Hence working together, they completed 12 x 3 = 36 units of work
What remains is 24 units and Peter completed this work all by himself in 10 days

Hence peter's work rate = 24/10 units per day

Therefore, Time taken by peter to complete the 60 units of work = Total Work /Peter's work rate = (60)/(24/10) = 25 days
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 105,379
Own Kudos:
778,152
 [4]
Given Kudos: 99,977
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 105,379
Kudos: 778,152
 [4]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
prasannar
Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. After they have worked together for 12 days Matt stops and Peter completes the remaining work in 10 days. In how many days Peter complete the work separately.

A. 26 days
B. 27 days
C. 23 days
D. 25 days
E. 24 days

Matt and Peter together would complete 12/20=3/5th of the work in 12 days, thus the remaining 2/5th is done by Peter alone in 10 days.

Therefore Peter can complete the work alone in 10/(2/5)=25 days.

Answer: D.
User avatar
mbaiseasy
Joined: 13 Aug 2012
Last visit: 29 Dec 2013
Posts: 322
Own Kudos:
2,049
 [1]
Given Kudos: 11
Concentration: Marketing, Finance
GPA: 3.23
Posts: 322
Kudos: 2,049
 [1]
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
\(\frac{1}{M}+\frac{1}{P}= \frac{1}{20}\)

Calculate work done together in 12 days:
\(\frac{1}{20}x12==>\frac{12}{20}=\frac{3}{5}\)

Remaining work is 1-3/5.
Calculate the days left for P to perform work alone:
\(\frac{1}{P}x10days=1-\frac{3}{5}\)
\(\frac{10}{P}=\frac{2}{5}\)
\(P=25 days\)


A. 26 days
B. 27 days
C. 23 days

D. 25 days
E. 24 days
User avatar
LeoN88
User avatar
BSchool Moderator
Joined: 08 Dec 2013
Last visit: 19 Oct 2025
Posts: 683
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 227
Location: India
Concentration: Nonprofit, Sustainability
Schools: ISB '23
GMAT 1: 630 Q47 V30
WE:Operations (Non-Profit and Government)
Products:
Schools: ISB '23
GMAT 1: 630 Q47 V30
Posts: 683
Kudos: 561
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
prasannar
Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. After they have worked together for 12 days Matt stops and Peter completes the remaining work in 10 days. In how many days Peter complete the work separately.

A. 26 days
B. 27 days
C. 23 days
D. 25 days
E. 24 days

let Matt & Peter be machines with efficiency m and p, so

m*p*20 = m*p*12 + p*10
m= (10/8)

Let Peter can complete in 10 days
m*p*20 = p*k
k=25

Bunuel is this approach correct, could you provide me with the repository of such sums.
User avatar
ScottTargetTestPrep
User avatar
Target Test Prep Representative
Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 21,712
Own Kudos:
26,994
 [1]
Given Kudos: 300
Status:Founder & CEO
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Location: United States (CA)
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 21,712
Kudos: 26,994
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
prasannar
Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. After they have worked together for 12 days Matt stops and Peter completes the remaining work in 10 days. In how many days Peter complete the work separately.

A. 26 days
B. 27 days
C. 23 days
D. 25 days
E. 24 days


We can let m and p be the number of days it takes Matt and Peter to complete the work independently and separately. So we have Matt’s rate = 1/m and Peter’s rate = 1/p. We can create the equations:

20(1/m + 1/p) = 1

and

12(1/m + 1/p) + 10(1/p) = 1

Dividing the first equation by 20, we have 1/m + 1/p = 1/20. Now, substituting 1/20 for (1/m + 1/p) in the second equation, we have:

12(1/20) + 10/p = 1

3/5 + 10/p = 1

10/p = 2/5

2p = 50

p = 25

Alternate Solution:

Since the job takes 20 days to complete by both of them working together, then in 12 days, 12/20 = 3/5 of the job is completed, and 1 - 3/5 = 2/5 of the job is left to be completed by Peter alone. We are given that Peter can complete 2/5 of the job in 10 days; therefore, Peter would complete 1/1 of the job in 10/(2/5) = 25 days.

Answer: D
User avatar
CrackverbalGMAT
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 03 Oct 2013
Last visit: 16 Nov 2025
Posts: 4,844
Own Kudos:
8,945
 [1]
Given Kudos: 225
Affiliations: CrackVerbal
Location: India
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,844
Kudos: 8,945
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
They can complete the work in 20 days and hence they completed 12*1/20=3/5th of the work in 12 days

Work left = 1 - 3/5 =2/5

2/5th work is done by Peter alone in 10 days.

Rate of work completion by Peter=(2/5)/10 =1/25

So, Peter can complete the work alone in 25 days.
(option d)

D.S
GMAT SME

User avatar
Abhishek009
User avatar
Board of Directors
Joined: 11 Jun 2011
Last visit: 18 Jul 2025
Posts: 5,934
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 463
Status:QA & VA Forum Moderator
Location: India
GPA: 3.5
WE:Business Development (Commercial Banking)
Posts: 5,934
Kudos: 5,327
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
prasannar
Matt and Peter can do together a piece of work in 20 days. After they have worked together for 12 days Matt stops and Peter completes the remaining work in 10 days. In how many days Peter complete the work separately.

A. 26 days
B. 27 days
C. 23 days
D. 25 days
E. 24 days

Let Work be 60 Units

Efficiency of M + P = 3 units/day

Work completed by them in 12 days will be 36 uinits ; 24 units work left

Now 24 units is completed by Peter in 10 days...

So, \(10p = 24\)

Or, \(p = 2.40\) units/day

So, The total job can be completed in 60/2.4 = 25 days, Answer must be (D)
User avatar
bumpbot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 38,584
Own Kudos:
Posts: 38,584
Kudos: 1,079
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
Math Expert
105379 posts
Tuck School Moderator
805 posts