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abhi47
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and Updated on: 13 Nov 2015, 05:14
Originally posted by abhi47 on 01 Feb 2012, 20:12.
Last edited by Bunuel on 13 Nov 2015, 05:14, edited 2 times in total.
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and also has one week to do so; unlike Velma, he can learn as many per day as he wants. However, Shaggy has decided to obey the advice of a study-skills professional, who has advised him that the number of characters he learns on any one day should be within 4 off the number he learns on any other day.

(A) What is the least number of hiragana that Shaggy could have to learn on Saturday?

(B) What is the greatest number of hiragana that Shaggy could have to learn on Saturday?
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 02 Feb 2012, 02:09
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and also has one week to do so; unlike Velma, he can learn as many per day as he wants. However, Shaggy has decided to obey the advice of a study-skills professional, who has advised him that the number of characters he learns on any one day should be within 4 off the number he learns on any other day.

(A) What is the least number of hiragana that Shaggy could have to learn on Saturday?

(B) What is the greatest number of hiragana that Shaggy could have to learn on Saturday?


Could someone please provide a simpler solution to this problem ? The actual solution provided is bit confusing.
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I must admit the wording is pretty awkward. Anyway:

As "the number of characters he learns on any one day should be within 4 off the number he learns on any other day", then the number of characters he learns on any day must be between \(x\) and \(x+4\) characters .

A. To minimize # of characters per day he should learn \(x\) (so min possible) characters on one day and \(x+4\) (so max possible) characters on all other 6 days, so we would have: \(x+6(x+4)=71\) --> \(x_{min}=\frac{47}{7}=6.something\), as \(x\) must be an integer than round up to 7 (it can not be less than 7 as 6.something is minimum);

B. To maximize # of characters per day he should learn \(x\) (min possible) characters on 6 days and \(x\) characters on all other 6 days, so we would have: \(6x+(x+4)=71\) --> \(x_{max}=\frac{67}{7}=9.something\), as \(x\) must be an integer than round down to 9 (it can not be more than 9 as 9.something is maximum), so max value for \(x+4\) is 9+4=13.

Answer: 7 and 13.

General rule for such kind of problems:
to maximize one quantity, minimize the others;
to minimize one quantity, maximize the others.

Similar question to practice: a-certain-city-with-population-of-132-000-is-to-be-divided-76217.html

Hope it helps.
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 30 Nov 2015, 16:54
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Hi Bunuel, Engr2012 et al.,

Could one of the Moderators move this post to the DS Forum?

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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 01 Dec 2015, 02:16
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Hi Bunuel, Engr2012 et al.,

Could one of the Moderators move this post to the DS Forum?

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Rich
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Hi Rich,

This is not a DS question. It's a PS questions with two questions in it.
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 01 Dec 2015, 21:28
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Hi Bunuel,

My apologies, it clearly is NOT a DS question - I must have been doing too many things at once when I first read through it.

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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 01 Dec 2015, 23:40
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Hi Bunuel

Shouldn't the answers be 8 and 15. Pls explain because the formula [x+6(x+4)=71] will not give the answer

The first day he can learn between 0-4 characters

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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 15 Oct 2017, 20:29
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and also has one week to do so; unlike Velma, he can learn as many per day as he wants. However, Shaggy has decided to obey the advice of a study-skills professional, who has advised him that the number of characters he learns on any one day should be within 4 off the number he learns on any other day.

(A) What is the least number of hiragana that Shaggy could have to learn on Saturday?

(B) What is the greatest number of hiragana that Shaggy could have to learn on Saturday?


Could someone please provide a simpler solution to this problem ? The actual solution provided is bit confusing.

I must admit the wording is pretty awkward. Anyway:

As "the number of characters he learns on any one day should be within 4 off the number he learns on any other day", then the number of characters he learns on any day must be between \(x\) and \(x+4\) characters .

A. To minimize # of characters per day he should learn \(x\) (so min possible) characters on one day and \(x+4\) (so max possible) characters on all other 6 days, so we would have: \(x+6(x+4)=71\) --> \(x_{min}=\frac{47}{7}=6.something\), as \(x\) must be an integer than round up to 7 (it can not be less than 7 as 6.something is minimum);

B. To maximize # of characters per day he should learn \(x\) (min possible) characters on 6 days and \(x\) characters on all other 6 days, so we would have: \(6x+(x+4)=71\) --> \(x_{max}=\frac{67}{7}=9.something\), as \(x\) must be an integer than round down to 9 (it can not be more than 9 as 9.something is maximum), so max value for \(x+4\) is 9+4=13.

Answer: 7 and 13.

General rule for such kind of problems:
to maximize one quantity, minimize the others;
to minimize one quantity, maximize the others.

Similar question to practice: https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-certain-cit ... 76217.html

Hope it helps.
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hi man

your solution to the DS is brilliant as usual...

let me understand, however, one thing properly

6.somethiing has been rounded up to 7, citing the reason that it is minimum, and 9.something has been rounded down to 9, citing the reason that it is maximum.

I am sure, you didn't mean conventional rules of rounding up or down, there must have something else

please help me understand the concept, please

thanks in advance, man
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 25 Aug 2019, 09:15
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Hi Bunuel, Engr2012 et al.,

Could one of the Moderators move this post to the DS Forum?

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

Hi Rich,

This is not a DS question. It's a PS questions with two questions in it.
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Bunuel
abhi47

How to use GC timer for this question?
Answer choices should be provided for this question to be complete.

Please provide answer choices.
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Shaggy has to learn the same 71 hiragana characters, and 14 Sep 2024, 00:11
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