In the month of August, Pentheus Corporation made $200,000 in profit.

Question

In the month of August, Pentheus Corporation made $200,000 in profit. Pentheus made 6% of that profit on the second Wednesday of August. If the profits that day were approximately 14.5% of the revenue for that day, then what was Pentheus’s revenue on the second Wednesday of August?

A. $65,536
B. $75,025
C. $77,922
D. $80,000
E. $82,756

Kudos for a correct solution.

A. $65,536 
B. $75,025 
C. $77,922 
D. $80,000 
E. $82,756

iamdp · Answer

Hi

Pentheus Corporation Profit = 200,000

Profit on the second Wednesday of August= 6% of 200,000 = 12000

Now this profit 12000 = 14.5 % of the REVENUE of that day

Now REVENUE = (12000*100)/14.5 = 82,756

KS15 · Answer

+1 for E. Profit made on second Wednesday of August=6/100*200,000=$12000
Revenue=12000*100/14.5=2400,000/29=$82,756

PareshGmat · Answer

Answer = E. $82,756

6% of profit = \frac{200000*6}{100} = 12000

Profit on Wednesday  = \frac{12000*100}{14.5} = 82***

Answer would be more than 80,000 which is option E

sabineodf · Answer

Is there a trick in dividing that last bit? I came as far as: 12000 = 14.5X(Revenue)/100

therefore X(revenue) = 12000 / 0.145

OR (12000*100)/14.5

But the actual division of that is where I get stuck because it takes forever.. SO hoping there is some kind of smart trick?

Thanks for any advice!

masoomdon · Answer

total profit = 200,000
profit made on wednesday = .06x200,000=12,000
revenue=12,000/.145=12000x100/14.5= 82,756

you can save a few seconds by looking at the options, dividing the final value by 14.5 we get the first digit as 8 and there's further division left so only viable option is (E)

KarishmaB · Answer

Approximate.

Say 14.5 is close to 15

1200,000/15 = 80,000 (because we know that 15*8 = 120)

But the actual division has 14.5 as divisor so the answer must be greater than 80,000. Only one options is greater than 80,000 and that is (E)

Bunuel · Answer

MAGOOSH OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

First of all, 1% of $200,000 is $2000, and six times this means 6% is $12,000. That’s the easy part of the problem. Now we know 14.5% of revenue is $12,000.

As we discussed in this post, starting with (C) in this problem would not be fun. Instead, we’ll backsolving starting with the round number, choice (D). Suppose revenue = $80,000.

(a) 1% of $80,000 = $800

(b) 10% of $80,000 = $8,000

(c) Multiply (a) by 4: 4% of $80,000 = $3,200

(d) Divide (a) by half: 0.5% of $80,000 = $400

(e) add (b) & (c) & (d): 14.5% of $80,000 = $11,600

That’s a bit shy of the required $12,000, so revenue must be larger than $80,000. That leads up immediately to the last choice.

Answer = (E)

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

On the second Wednesday of August, the profit made was 0.06 x 200,000 = 12,000.

Since 12,000 was approximately 14.5% of the revenue for that day, we have:

12,000 = 0.145(revenue)

12,000/0.145 = revenue

Since we can estimate, we see that 12,000/0.15 = 80,000; however, since we are dividing by 0.145, which is a SMALLER NUMBER, we see that our answer must be a bit larger than 80,000, and the only answer that fits is E, 82,756.

Answer: E

BrentGMATPrepNow · Answer

In the month of August, Pentheus Corporation made $200,000 in profit. Pentheus made 6% of that profit on the second Wednesday of August.   
1% of $200,000 = $2,000, so 6% of $200,000 = (6)($2,000) =  $12,000 
So, the profit on that day =  $12,000

If the profits that day were approximately 14.5% of the revenue for that day, then what was Pentheus’s revenue on the second Wednesday of August?   
Let R = the day's revenue. 
So, we can write:  $12,000 /R = 14.5/100
Cross multiply to get: 1,200,000 = 14.5R
So, R = 1,200,000/14.5

IMPORTANT: We COULD use long division to evaluate 1,200,000/14.5, but here's a faster route. 
First recognize that 1,200,000/15 = 80,000
Since 14.5 is a little bit smaller than 15, we know that  1,200,000/14.5 will be a little bit greater than 80,000

Answer: E

Cheers,
Brent

KanishkM · Answer

So it was all about how you read this question.

6/100 * 200000 = x
x = 12000 was made on 2nd day

Now this value was 14.5 % of x

just solve the expression to get

E

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In the month of August, Pentheus Corporation made $200,000 in profit.

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In the month of August, Pentheus Corporation made $200,000 in profit.

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