Candidate McFe received 12,00 votes, which was 1/4 of the total

Question

Candidate McFe received 12,000 votes, which was 1/4 of the total number of votes. If x additional people had voted and each had voted for Mcfee, then Mcfee would have received 1/3 of the total number of votes. What is the value of x?

A. 8,000
B. 6,000
C. 4,000
D. 3,000
E. 2,000

A. 8,000
B. 6,000
C. 4,000
D. 3,000
E. 2,000

tgsankar10 · Answer

12000 votes are  \frac{1}{4}

Total votes  = 48000

\frac{12000}{48000}=\frac{1}{4}

x  votes added to McFe

\frac{12000+x}{48000+x}=\frac{1}{3}

36000+3x=48000+x

x=48000-36000

x=6000

Answer is B

Purnank · Answer

Total current voters = 12000*4 = 48000
x as the new voters that voted for McFe
 12000+x = \frac{1}{3} * (48000+x) 
solving for x = 6000
  Answer is B.

Spectre26 · Answer

Key: x  additional people had voted and each had voted for Mcfe

Additional votes: x
1/3*(48,000 + x) = 12,000 + x
48,000 + x = 36,000 + 3x
2x = 12,000
x = 6,000

Correct Option: B

SageGMATtutor · Answer

Candidate McFee received 12,000 votes, which was 1/4 of the total number of votes. If x additional people had voted and each had voted for Mcfee, then Mcfee would have received 1/3 of the total number of votes. What is the value of x?

A. 8,000
B. 6,000
C. 4,000
D. 3,000
E. 2,000

Algebra is an adequate way to solve this problem, but if algebra isn't your strength, or if you can't see how to set up the equation, it's worth mastering other strategies too. Here's how to solve this problem using the strategy of testing answers:

If 12,000 people was 1/4 the total number of votes, then 48,000 people voted. Then we're going to add some more voters to the mix, all of whom voted for McFee. Let's test answer C first:
(C) 4,000 This would make the total number of voters 52,000 (be suspicious of this, because 3 is not a factor!), and would make 16,000 votes for McFee. 16,000 is not a third of 52,000, so answer C is not correct. Further, 16,000 is less than a third of 52,000, so we need to add more votes to the mix, hence eliminate answers D and E too.
(B) 6,000 This would make the total number of voters 54,000, and would make 18,000 votes for McFee. Since 18,000 is 1/3 of 54,000, this is the correct answer.

In conclusion, testing answers is an excellent strategy here, even for those who find algebra comfortable. As well as being a reliable strategy for easy / medium problems, testing answers is just about essential for some harder word problems, where algebra becomes extremely difficult and time-consuming.

Candidate McFe received 12,00 votes, which was 1/4 of the total

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­Candidate McFe received 12,00 votes, which was 1/4 of the total

Prep Toolkit

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Candidate McFe received 12,00 votes, which was 1/4 of the total