Two quarts containing 2 ⁄3 water and 1 ⁄3 formula are mixed with three

Hi All,

The design of this question gives you the opportunity to get to the solution by just doing arithmetic (although knowing your fraction-to-decimal conversions would help a great deal).

We're told that two quarts containing 2⁄3 water and 1⁄3 formula are mixed with three quarts containing 3⁄8 water and 5⁄8 formula. We're asked APPROXIMATELY what percent of the combined five-quart mixture is water?

2/3 of 2 quarts = 4/3 quarts of water
3/8 of 3 quarts = 9/8 quarts of water

4/3 = 1.333
9/8 = 1.125

Total water = 1.333 + 1.125 = 2.458
Total quarts = 5

2.458/5 = a little less than 1/2 = a little less than 50%

The question you might be thinking at this point is "well, is it closer to 45% than it is to 50%?"

10% of 5 = .5
5% of 5 = .25

50% of 5 = 2.5
45% of 5 = 2.25

2.458 is closer to 2.5 than it is to 2.25, so...

Final Answer:

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