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555-605 (Medium)|   Percent and Interest Problems|   Word Problems|                        
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+ A

I solved it similar to you and also went with (A). However, I got 35% for the shoppers that bought Brand Y in the second month. I realize that doesn't matter because it is a DS question. But, I've attached my work to show anyone who is curious. As for statement (2), I concur.
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In a two-month survey of shoppers, each shopper bought one of two brands of detergent, X or Y, in the first month and again bought one of these brands in the second month. In the survey, 90 percent of the shoppers who bought Brand X in the first month bought Brand X again in the second month, while 60 percent of the shoppers who bought Brand Y in the first month bought Brand Y again in the second month. What percent of the shoppers bought Brand Y in the second month?

(1) In the first month, 50 percent of the shoppers bought Brand X.

(2) The total number of shoppers surveyed was 5,000.

this question reminds me overlapping sets:)

90% bought X
60% bought y
statement 1 says 50 percent of the shoppers bought Brand X.
which means that out of 90 percent who bought both x and y, only 50% bought x
hence: 90-50 = 40 % :) so I chose A

please, correct if I am wrong :)
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Ans A:

St 1: Assume Total Participants in the survey be 100.

First Month: 50% bought brand X. Therefore, Purchase split X=50 and Y=50

Second Month: Revised Purchase split
X= (0.9x50) + (0.4x50) = 65
Y= 100 - 65 = 35%

St 2: Insufficient, as we require the split between X and Y and not the absolute number of buyers
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Hi VeritasKarishma

I solved this question using the Matrix based approach. However, after solving this question one thing raised on my mind.
The question stem says, "each shopper bought one of two brands of detergent, X or Y".

Therefore, there cannot be some number of people who bought both brands of X and Y correct?

What would the phrase look like if there were some number of people who bought both brands of X and Y?

I am asking this because while solving this question I wasted some time as I did go through these questions.

Thank you.
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This was very easy to answer in matrix method.

Please refer attached
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gurudabl
Hi VeritasKarishma

I solved this question using the Matrix based approach. However, after solving this question one thing raised on my mind.
The question stem says, "each shopper bought one of two brands of detergent, X or Y".

Therefore, there cannot be some number of people who bought both brands of X and Y correct?

What would the phrase look like if there were some number of people who bought both brands of X and Y?

I am asking this because while solving this question I wasted some time as I did go through these questions.

Thank you.


The question tells you that the shoppers bought one of the two brands. So they bought only one.
Had the question said 'at least one of the two brands' that would mean they bought 1 or both. Usually, people can belong to multiple sets until and unless specified otherwise (as done in our question).
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(1) In the first month, 50 percent of the shoppers bought Brand X. : this tells us rest 50 % bought Y in the first month and the stem tells us that 60% of people who bought Y in first month bought Y in second month as well, and that's exactly what's asked.

No of people who bought Y in second month= 60% of 50%
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moonwalking
In a two-month survey of shoppers, each shopper bought one of two brands of detergent, X or Y, in the first month and again bought one of these brands in the second month. In the survey, 90 percent of the shoppers who bought Brand X in the first month bought Brand X again in the second month, while 60 percent of the shoppers who bought Brand Y in the first month bought Brand Y again in the second month. What percent of the shoppers bought Brand Y in the second month?

(1) In the first month, 50 percent of the shoppers bought Brand X.

(2) The total number of shoppers surveyed was 5,000.
Solution:

We need to determine the percentage of the shoppers that bought Brand Y in the second month. If we let T be the total number of shoppers in the survey and x be the number of shoppers who bought brand X detergent in the first month, then the number of shoppers who bought Brand Y detergent in the second month is:

0.1x + 0.6(T - x)

Note that 0.1x is the number of shoppers who bought Brand X in the first month but switched to Brand Y in the second month and 0.6(T - x) is the number of shoppers who bought Brand Y in the first month and continued to buy Brand Y in the second month.

If we can determine the values of T and x, then we can determine the number of shoppers who bought Brand Y in the second month and hence the percentage of shoppers who bought Brand Y detergent in the second month.

Statement One Alone:

This means x = 0.5T. Thus the expression in the our stem analysis simplifies to:

0.1(0.5T) + 0.6(T - 0.5T) = 0.05T + 0.3T = 0.35T

Although we don’t know the value of T, the expression 0.35T really means that 35% of the total number of shoppers bought Brand Y in the second month. Statement one alone is sufficient.

Statement Two Alone:

This means T = 5,000. Thus the expression in the our stem analysis simplifies to:

0.1x + 0.6(5000 - x)

However, without knowing the value of x, we can’t determine the number of shoppers who bought Brand Y in the second month, and hence we can’t determine the percentage of shoppers who bought Brand Y in the second month. Statement two alone is not sufficient.

Answer: A
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Who is to say that some of shoppers who bought X in the first month did not buy Y in the second month? The question stem refers to the original shoppers in the first month, ie X1 and Y1, saying that certain % of them did not churn out for the second month. But is it not reasonable to think that there may be some people from X1 that might have switched to Y in the second month? The question stem is not protected of this idea..
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Mort1x
Who is to say that some of shoppers who bought X in the first month did not buy Y in the second month? The question stem refers to the original shoppers in the first month, ie X1 and Y1, saying that certain % of them did not churn out for the second month. But is it not reasonable to think that there may be some people from X1 that might have switched to Y in the second month? The question stem is not protected of this idea..
The question stem does account for shoppers switching brands. It explicitly states that 90% of those who bought Brand X in the first month bought Brand X again in the second month, meaning the remaining 10% must have switched to Brand Y. Similarly, 60% of those who bought Brand Y in the first month bought Brand Y again, implying the other 40% switched to Brand X. So, the calculation correctly includes the possibility of people from X1 switching to Y in the second month. Please review the discussion above for more.
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