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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to Updated on: 04 Jul 2013, 08:11
Originally posted by virtualanimosity on 19 Aug 2009, 13:33.
Last edited by Bunuel on 04 Jul 2013, 08:11, edited 2 times in total.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work. 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women. How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?

A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times
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D
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Bunuel
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Jul 2010, 10:44
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nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?
Show more

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women. How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?

A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Jul 2010, 13:25
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AndreG
Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.

Hm, i got stuck cuz I got something a little different:
YOURS: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

MINE: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{3}{m}=\frac{9}{w}+5\)

In the above equation you also have for 2 men: \(\frac{2}{m}\) - so why do u suddenly use the reciprocal? And why don't we add the 5 to women, because they take longer, hence their side is smaller...
Show more

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days.

First equation:
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work:
As the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day, then the rate of 3 women will be \(\frac{3}{w}\) job/day. As the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day, then the rate of 2 men will be \(\frac{2}{m}\) job/day. Combined rate of 3 women and 2 men in one day will be: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}\) job/day.

As they do all the job in 6 days then in 1 day they do 1/6 of the job, which is combined rate of 3 women and 2 men --> \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

Second equation:
3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women:
As 1 man needs \(m\) days to do the job 3 men will need \(\frac{m}{3}\) days to do the job. As 1 woman needs \(w\) days to do the job 9 women will need \(\frac{w}{9}\) days to do the job. 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner means that 3 men will need 5 less days to do the job, hence \(\frac{m}{3}\) is 5 less than \(\frac{w}{9}\) --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Hope it's clear.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 06 Mar 2011, 10:42
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virtualanimosity
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
1] 3 times
2] 4 times
3] 5 times
4] 6 times
5] 7 times
Show more

Let women do \(w\) units of work per day and men do \(m\) units of work per day, then question asks, what is m/w

Total units of work to be done = \(6*(3*w+2*m)\)

Time taken by 9 women to do this work on their own = \(6*(3*w+2*m)\)/\((9*w)\) = \(2 + 4/3*m/w\)

Time taken by 3 men to do this work on their own = \(6*(3*w+2*m)/(3*m)\) = \(6/(m/w) + 4\)

Let m/w be x

then we know

\(2 + (4/3)*x -6/x -4 = 5\)

or

\((4/3)*x - 6/x= 7\)

Now substituting for x from choices will quickly give us x = 6 so D

I like this as it reduces quickly to the required form of m/w and it obviates the need for a quadratic equation and also lest w and m remain in numerator most of the time
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 06 Mar 2011, 22:08
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virtualanimosity
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
1] 3 times
2] 4 times
3] 5 times
4] 6 times
5] 7 times
Show more

I received a PM asking me to respond. First, this is definitely not a realistic GMAT question. For one thing, it's horribly written (the phrase 'to complete a work' is not English, the question should read '*By* how many times...', the question needs to make clear that each man works at the same rate, as does each woman, the word 'sooner' is non-idiomatic, the word 'output' is misused, etc). For another, it's terribly contrived, and altogether tedious if you take any normal approach; I don't see any direct way to solve that will allow you to avoid a quadratic equation. Real GMAT questions are never designed in such a way, so you can confidently move on to better material and ignore this question (incidentally, where is it from?).

While it isn't especially fast either, you can work backwards from the answers here relatively easily. This might at least be less confusing for some than a direct (algebraic) approach. Say we get 1 unit of work per woman per day. If you test, say, answer C, we'd then get 5 units of work per man per day. The job would then require 6(3 + 2*5) = 78 units of work. Notice that, to find how long it will take 9 women to do the job, we'll need to get an integer when we divide 78 by 9, so C cannot be right. If you move next to D, we have 6 units of work per man per day, and the job requires 6(3 + 2*6) = 90 units of work. Thus 9 women do the job in 10 days, and 3 men would do the job in 90/(6*3) = 5 days, so D is correct.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Aug 2009, 16:00
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virtualanimosity
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
1] 3 times
2] 4 times
3] 5 times
4] 6 times
5] 7 times
Show more

Clear D:

x: days 9 women doing the job --> 1 woman works W=1/9x per day
x-5: days 3 men doing the job --> 1 man works M=1/[3*(x-5)] per day

The answer to the question is: M/W

And, how much is x?

As per first data:

2*M+3*W=1/6
You can solve x, and obtain 2 values, 10 and 1 (1 is impossible because that would imply that the 3 men take -4 days), so x=10. So M/W=6 times
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Jul 2010, 01:10
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Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?
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AndreG
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Jul 2010, 13:05
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Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.
Show more

Hm, i got stuck cuz I got something a little different:
YOURS: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

MINE: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{3}{m}=\frac{9}{w}+5\)

In the above equation you also have for 2 men: \(\frac{2}{m}\) - so why do u suddenly use the reciprocal? And why don't we add the 5 to women, because they take longer, hence their side is smaller...
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Bunuel
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 22 Jul 2010, 04:28
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sam2010
Bunel-I got a quadratic equation while solving these two eqn. Is there a simple way of solving them?
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I also got quadratic equation (\(m^2-3m-180=0\)) and it wasn't too hard to solve (discriminant would be perfect square \(d=3^3+4*180=729=27^2\)) --> \(m=-12\) or \(m=15\).
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 24 Jan 2011, 10:20
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First set : 3/w+2/m=1/6
Second set: 3/m = 1/x and 9/w=1/(x+5)
==> 1/m = 1/3x and 1/w = 1/9(x+5)
Enter in first equation and solve for x
1/(3x+15) + 2/3x = 1/6
simplify => x^2-x-20=0
solve for x : x=(1 +- (1+80)^,5)/2= (1+- 9)/2.
X can only be positive ==> x= 5
enter in 2nd set ==> 3/m=1/5 and 9/w=1/10 => 3/2m=9/w => m/w=1/6
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 15 Sep 2012, 11:53
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virtualanimosity
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?

A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times
Show more

The fastest and easiest way to solve this question was already proposed by IanStewart.

I am trying another algebraic approach.

Denote by \(W\) the rate of a woman, by \(M\) that of a men, and by \(T\) the time it takes 9 women to complete the work.
We have the following equations:
\(6(3W + 2M) = 9WT = 3M(T-5)\), or, after reducing by 3, \(2(3W + 2M) = 3WT = M(T - 5).\)
We are looking for the ratio \(M/W\) which we can denote by \(n.\) Substituting in the above equations \(M = nW,\) we can write:
\(2(3W + 2nW) = 3WT = nW(T - 5).\)

Divide through by \(W,\) so \(6 + 4n = 3T = nT - 5n.\) Solving for \(T\) (equality between the last two expressions) we obtain \(T=\frac{5n}{n-3}.\)
Taking the equality of the first two expressions, we get \(6+4n=\frac{3\cdot{5}n}{n-3}.\)
From the possible answer choices we can deduce that \(n\) must be a positive integer.
We need \(\frac{15n}{n-3}\) to be a positive integer. We can see that \(n\) cannot be odd and it must be greater than 3.
We have to choose between B and D.
Only \(n = 6\) works.

Answer D.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Sep 2012, 15:56
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Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.
Show more


How did you solve for m and w in the very last part? I do the algebra and can't get the right answer. You have one equation with 2 unknown variables.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 19 Sep 2012, 23:39
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Shawshank
Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.


How did you solve for m and w in the very last part? I do the algebra and can't get the right answer. You have one equation with 2 unknown variables.
Show more

You have 2 equations with two unknowns:
First equation \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}.\)
Second equation \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).
After getting rid of the denominators (multiply first equation by \(6wm\) and the second by 9), for example express \(w\)
from the second equation and substitute it into the first. You obtain a quadratic equation for \(m\):

\(m^2-3m-180=0\)

This equation has one positive and one negative root. The sum of the two roots must be 3 and their product -180.
Using factorization for 180, you can find -12 and 15.
So \(m=15\) and \(w=90.\)

For another algebraic approach see:
it-takes-6-days-for-3-women-and-2-men-working-together-to-82718.html#p1121807
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 30 Sep 2013, 01:44
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Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.
Show more


Can you please help me to understand on what logic did you make this explanation- 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).
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Bunuel
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 30 Sep 2013, 02:07
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honchos
Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.


Can you please help me to understand on what logic did you make this explanation- 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).
Show more

One man completes the job in \(m\) days --> 3 men in m/3 days.
One woman completes the job in \(w\) days --> 9 women in w/9 days.

We are told that m/3 is 5 less than w/9 --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Hope it's clear.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 20 Nov 2013, 11:58
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Bunuel
AndreG
Bunuel


Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.

Hm, i got stuck cuz I got something a little different:
YOURS: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

MINE: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{3}{m}=\frac{9}{w}+5\)

In the above equation you also have for 2 men: \(\frac{2}{m}\) - so why do u suddenly use the reciprocal? And why don't we add the 5 to women, because they take longer, hence their side is smaller...

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days.

First equation:
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work:
As the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day, then the rate of 3 women will be \(\frac{3}{w}\) job/day. As the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day, then the rate of 2 men will be \(\frac{2}{m}\) job/day. Combined rate of 3 women and 2 men in one day will be: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}\) job/day.

As they do all the job in 6 days then in 1 day they do 1/6 of the job, which is combined rate of 3 women and 2 men --> \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

Second equation:
3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women:
As 1 man needs \(m\) days to do the job 3 men will need \(\frac{m}{3}\) days to do the job. As 1 woman needs \(w\) days to do the job 9 women will need \(\frac{w}{9}\) days to do the job. 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner means that 3 men will need 5 less days to do the job, hence \(\frac{m}{3}\) is 5 less than \(\frac{w}{9}\) --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Hope it's clear.
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My question is this, on the second equation how did you KNOW to put m/3, whereas in the first it was 2/m? In both cases aren't you figuring out the rate? In the first equation, you know that a man does 1/m of the job, and that 2 would do 2/m. In the second equation the rate is still 1/m, but you have 3 men, so should it not be 3/m+5=9/m?
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 21 Nov 2013, 02:48
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AccipiterQ
Bunuel
AndreG

Hm, i got stuck cuz I got something a little different:
YOURS: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

MINE: 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{3}{m}=\frac{9}{w}+5\)

In the above equation you also have for 2 men: \(\frac{2}{m}\) - so why do u suddenly use the reciprocal? And why don't we add the 5 to women, because they take longer, hence their side is smaller...

Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days.

First equation:
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work:
As the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day, then the rate of 3 women will be \(\frac{3}{w}\) job/day. As the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day, then the rate of 2 men will be \(\frac{2}{m}\) job/day. Combined rate of 3 women and 2 men in one day will be: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}\) job/day.

As they do all the job in 6 days then in 1 day they do 1/6 of the job, which is combined rate of 3 women and 2 men --> \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

Second equation:
3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women:
As 1 man needs \(m\) days to do the job 3 men will need \(\frac{m}{3}\) days to do the job. As 1 woman needs \(w\) days to do the job 9 women will need \(\frac{w}{9}\) days to do the job. 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner means that 3 men will need 5 less days to do the job, hence \(\frac{m}{3}\) is 5 less than \(\frac{w}{9}\) --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Hope it's clear.

My question is this, on the second equation how did you KNOW to put m/3, whereas in the first it was 2/m? In both cases aren't you figuring out the rate? In the first equation, you know that a man does 1/m of the job, and that 2 would do 2/m. In the second equation the rate is still 1/m, but you have 3 men, so should it not be 3/m+5=9/m?
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Please read the solution carefully:
First equation gives the rate: the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day, then the rate of 2 men will be \(\frac{2}{m}\) job/day.

Second equation gives time: 1 man needs \(m\) days to do the job 3 men will need \(\frac{m}{3}\) days to do the job.

Hope it's clear.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 17 Jan 2014, 23:26
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Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times
Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.
Show more


bunuel, pls help

if i equate time i am not getting it pls tell me where i am going wrong

lets take 1 woman can complete the work in 'w' days and 1 man can complete in 'm' days
so, it becomes w/3+m/2=6
and m/3+5=w/9

but i am getting the answer wrong.

thanks in advance
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 18 Jan 2014, 03:22
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saggii27
Bunuel
nonameee
Guys, even if you know the solution right away, it takes several minutes (definitely more than 3) to just write it down to find the answer. Is it a real GMAT question? Can something like that be expected on the real test?

Below is another solution which is a little bit faster.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work.3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women.How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman?
A. 3 times
B. 4 times
C. 5 times
D. 6 times
E. 7 times
Let one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days. So the rate of 1 woman is \(\frac{1}{w}\) job/day and the rate of 1 man is \(\frac{1}{m}\) job/day.

It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work --> sum the rates: \(\frac{3}{w}+\frac{2}{m}=\frac{1}{6}\).

3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women --> \(\frac{m}{3}+5=\frac{w}{9}\).

Solving: \(m=15\) and \(w=90\). \(\frac{w}{m}=6\).

Answer: D.


bunuel, pls help

if i equate time i am not getting it pls tell me where i am going wrong

lets take 1 woman can complete the work in 'w' days and 1 man can complete in 'm' days
so, it becomes w/3+m/2=6
and m/3+5=w/9

but i am getting the answer wrong.

thanks in advance
Show more

That's because your equations are wrong. If one woman complete the job in \(w\) days and one man in \(m\) days, then w/3 is the time one woman needs to complete 1/3 of the work and m/2 is the time one man needs to complete 1/2 of the work. Adding them makes no sense. We can add rates but not times.

Check here: it-takes-6-days-for-3-women-and-2-men-working-together-to-82718.html#p751436

Hope this helps.
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It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to 16 Jul 2018, 03:46
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An alternate approach for a problem in a locked thread:

Quote:
It takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men working together to complete a work. 3 men would do the same work 5 days sooner than 9 women. How many times does the output of a man exceed that of a woman ?

a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. 6
e. 7
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We can PLUG IN THE ANSWERS, which represent how many times a man's output exceeds that of a woman.
When the correct answer is plugged in, 3 men will take 5 fewer days to complete the job than 9 women.

B: 4
Let the rate for each woman = 1 unit per day and the rate for each man = 4 units per day.
Since it takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men to complete the job, the job = (rate for 3 women and 2 men)(6 days) = (3*1 + 2*4)(6) = 66 units.
Time for 9 women to complete the job \(= \frac{work}{rate-for-9-women} = \frac{66}{(9*1)} = \frac{22}{3}\) ≈ 7 days.
Time for 3 men to complete the job \(= \frac{work}{rate-for-3-men} = \frac{66}{(3*4)} = \frac{66}{12} = \frac{11}{2}\) ≈ 5 days.
Doesn't work:
Here, 3 men take only about 2 fewer days than 9 women.
Eliminate B.
For 3 men to take 5 fewer days, the rate for each man must INCREASE.
Eliminate A.

D: 6
Let the rate for each woman = 1 unit per day and the rate for each man = 6 units per day.
Since it takes 6 days for 3 women and 2 men to complete the job, the job = (rate for 3 women and 2 men)(6 days) = (3*1 + 2*6)(6) = 90 units.
Time for 9 women to complete the job \(= \frac{work}{rate-for-9-women} = \frac{90}{(9*1)} = \frac{90}{9} = 10\) days.
Time for 3 men to complete the job \(= \frac{work}{rate-for-3-men} = \frac{90}{(3*6)} = \frac{90}{18} = 5\) days.
Success!
Here, 3 men take 5 fewer days than 9 women.

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