GMAT Question of the Day - Daily to your Mailbox; hard ones only

 It is currently 23 Sep 2018, 15:10

### 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

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

# Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un

Author Message
TAGS:

### Hide Tags

Manager
Joined: 13 Sep 2016
Posts: 121
Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

16 Oct 2016, 21:59
2
00:00

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

87% (01:49) correct 13% (02:09) wrong based on 53 sessions

### HideShow timer Statistics

Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a uniform rate of 40 feet every 160 minutes, and Taylor paints at a uniform rate of 50 feet every 125 minutes. If the two painters paint simultaneously, how many minutes will it take for them to paint a fence that is 260 feet long?

a) 320
b) 400
c) 450
d) 500
e) 580

Intern
Joined: 15 Oct 2016
Posts: 2
Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

16 Oct 2016, 22:06
1
Ray can paint 40 feet every 160 minutes..
Then Ray can paint 40/160 feets per minute.
Taylor can paint 50 feet every 125 minutes..
Then Taylor can paint 50/125 fret per minutes
Then in one minute both together can paint (40/160)+(50/125) feets.. nothing but 13/20 feets per minute..
Time taken for 260 feet 260/(13/20) or (260*20)/13 = 400 minutes

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Board of Directors
Status: QA & VA Forum Moderator
Joined: 11 Jun 2011
Posts: 4033
Location: India
GPA: 3.5
Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

16 Oct 2016, 22:12
alanforde800Maximus wrote:
Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a uniform rate of 40 feet every 160 minutes, and Taylor paints at a uniform rate of 50 feet every 125 minutes. If the two painters paint simultaneously, how many minutes will it take for them to paint a fence that is 260 feet long?

a) 320
b) 400
c) 450
d) 500
e) 580

Efficiency of Ray = $$\frac{40}{160}$$ => $$\frac{1}{4}$$
Efficiency of Taylor = $$\frac{50}{125}$$ => $$\frac{2}{5}$$

Combined efficiency is $$\frac{1}{4}$$ + $$\frac{2}{5}$$ = $$\frac{13}{20}$$

Time required to paint a 260 meters wall is $$260*\frac{20}{13}$$ = $$400$$ minutes.

Hence answer will be (B) 400
_________________

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 )

Intern
Joined: 20 Mar 2015
Posts: 4
Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

16 Oct 2016, 22:31
1
RAY : 40 feet ->160 minutes | TAYLOR : 50 feet -> 125 minutes
Thus, 1 feet -> 4 minutes | 1 feet -> 2.5 minutes
Thus Total One day work, 1/4+1/2.5 = 65/100
Thus for Total Work(260feet) : 100/65 * 260 = 400 minutes

CEO
Joined: 12 Sep 2015
Posts: 2887
Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

17 Oct 2016, 08:57
2
Top Contributor
alanforde800Maximus wrote:
Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a uniform rate of 40 feet every 160 minutes, and Taylor paints at a uniform rate of 50 feet every 125 minutes. If the two painters paint simultaneously, how many minutes will it take for them to paint a fence that is 260 feet long?

a) 320
b) 400
c) 450
d) 500
e) 580

Let's determine how much each person can paint in ONE MINUTE

Ray paints at a uniform rate of 40 feet every 160 minutes
We have (40 feet)/(160 minutes)
Divide top and bottom by 160 to get: (0.25 feet)/(1 minute)
So, Ray paints 0.25 feet every ONE MINUTE

Taylor paints at a uniform rate of 50 feet every 125 minutes
We have (50 feet)/(125 minutes)
Divide top and bottom by 125 to get: (0.4 feet)/(1 minute)
So, Taylor paints 0.4 feet every ONE MINUTE

So, working TOGETHER, the can paint 0.25 + 0.4 feet every ONE MINUTE
In other words, they can paint 0.65 feet every ONE MINUTE

How many minutes will it take for them to paint a fence that is 260 feet long?
Time = output/rate
= 260/0.65
= 400 minutes

RELATED VIDEO

_________________

Brent Hanneson – GMATPrepNow.com

Target Test Prep Representative
Status: Founder & CEO
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Posts: 3515
Location: United States (CA)
Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

05 Dec 2017, 18:39
alanforde800Maximus wrote:
Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a uniform rate of 40 feet every 160 minutes, and Taylor paints at a uniform rate of 50 feet every 125 minutes. If the two painters paint simultaneously, how many minutes will it take for them to paint a fence that is 260 feet long?

a) 320
b) 400
c) 450
d) 500
e) 580

We are given that Ray paints at a uniform rate of 40 feet every 160 minutes. Thus, the rate of Ray is 40/160= 1/4 ft/min.

We are also given that Taylor paints at a uniform rate of 50 feet every 125 minutes. Thus, the rate of Taylor is 50/125= 2/5 ft/min.

We need to determine the time it will take to paint a fence, that is 260 feet long, when Ray and Taylor work simultaneously.

To determine the time to paint a 260-foot-long fence, we can use the combined work formula:

Work done by Ray + Work done by Taylor = 260 feet (the total work completed)

Because Ray and Taylor are working simultaneously, we can let the time they both work together be t minutes. We now can express the individual work done by Ray and Taylor. We must remember that work = rate x time.

Work done by Ray = (1/4)t

Work done by Taylor = (2/5)t

(1/4)t + (2/5)t = 260

We can multiply the entire equation by 20 to cancel out the fraction and we have:

5t + 8t = 5,200

13t = 5,200

t = 400 minutes

_________________

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO

GMAT Quant Self-Study Course
500+ lessons 3000+ practice problems 800+ HD solutions

EMPOWERgmat Instructor
Status: GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Posts: 12444
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

24 Jan 2018, 20:54
Hi All,

The 'key' to most 'rate' questions is to find a simple unit measure that's comparable for all the entities involved. In this prompt, we're dealing with 'total feet painted per volume of minutes.' Since the question asks for the number of MINUTES it takes to paint a fence, we should organize our information in terms of 'feet painted per minute.'

Based on the information in the prompt...
Ray paints 40 feet every 160 minutes = 1/4 foot per minute
Taylor paints 50 feet every 125 minutes = 2/5 foot per minute

In TOTAL, they paint 1/4 + 2/5 = 5/20 + 8/20 = 13/20 feet per minute

While that measurement might seem 'weird', we can convert it...

(13/20 feet per minute)(20 minutes) = 13 feet every 20 minutes

The prompt asks for the time it would take to paint a 260 foot long fence....

260/13 = (20 units of 13 feet) x 20 minutes = 400 minutes

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________

760+: Learn What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels
Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

# Rich Cohen

Co-Founder & GMAT Assassin

Special Offer: Save \$75 + GMAT Club Tests Free
Official GMAT Exam Packs + 70 Pt. Improvement Guarantee
www.empowergmat.com/

***********************Select EMPOWERgmat Courses now include ALL 6 Official GMAC CATs!***********************

Re: Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un &nbs [#permalink] 24 Jan 2018, 20:54
Display posts from previous: Sort by

# Two painters, Ray and Taylor, are painting a fence. Ray paints at a un

## Events & Promotions

 Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne Kindly note that the GMAT® test is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by GMAC®.