If 5x = 4y, which of the following is NOT true?

Question

(A)  \frac{(x + y)}{y} = \frac{9}{5}

(B)  \frac{y}{(y – x)} = 5

(C)  \frac{(x – y)}{y} = \frac{1}{5}

(D)  \frac{4x}{5y} = \frac{16}{25}

(E)  \frac{(x + 3y)}{x} = \frac{19}{4}

Abhishek009 · Accepted Answer

5x = 4y = 20 (Say)

So, x = 4 & y = 5

(A)  \frac{(x + y)}{y} = \frac{9}{5}  ( True )

(B)  \frac{y}{(y – x)} = 5  ( True )

(C)  \frac{(x – y)}{y} = \frac{-1}{5}  
 
 (D)  \frac{4x}{5y} = \frac{16}{25}  ( True )

(E)  \frac{(x + 3y)}{x} = \frac{19}{4}  ( True )

Thus, answer must be (C)

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear vikasp99 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

There are many different ways to rearrange a ratio. The way I solved this was to scan down the list of answers. I noticed that (B) and (C) are close to reciprocals for each other, but the subtraction is in a reverse order between them. They can't both work for the values of x and y! Think about it this way. Suppose x and y are both positive--they don't have to be, because they both could be negative, but let's just assume that they are positive. Each expression has to work for all numbers, so it must work for positive numbers! We know 5/4 = y/x, so y is a bigger positive number than x. Thus, (y - x) is positive, and (x - y) is negative. Choice (B) has positive = positive Choice (C) has negative = positive, so this is the one that doesn't work. Thus, (C) is the answer. (A), (B) (D), and (E) are all arithmetically legal rearrangements of the original equation. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

BrentGMATPrepNow · Answer

Another approach is to apply a nice (and often-tested) concept:   \frac{a + b}{c} = \frac{a}{c} + \frac{b}{c}  
For example:  \frac{1 + 2}{5} = \frac{1}{5} + \frac{2}{5}

Given: 5x = 4y
Divide both sides by y to get: 5x/y = 4
Divide both sides by 5 to get:  x/y = 4/5

Now let's examine each answer choice and apply the nice rule. 
A) (x + y)/y = 9/5
(x + y)/y = x/y + y/y    
=  x/y  + 1
=  4/5  + 5/5
= 9/5
This checks out.

B) y/(y – x) = 5
In this case, the denominator is not a single expression, so we can't readily apply our rule. 
So, let's IGNORE answer choice B for now.

C) (x – y)/y = 1/5
(x – y)/y = x/y - y/y    
=  x/y  - 1
=  4/5  - 5/5
= -1/5
No good!
Answer: C

Cheers,
Brent

mimajit · Answer

This is how I solved

Assign values to X and Y such that

5x = 4y, Here we could assign X as 4 and Y = 5

Now cross check ans

(A) (x+y)/y =9/5 
=( 4+5)/5 = 9/5 SO its true

Similarly

(B) y/(y–x) =5 
 = 5( 5-4 ) = 5* 1 = 5 its true

(C) (x–y)/y =1/5 
(4-5)/5 = -1/5 which is not the same as 1/5 hence its not true .
Ans = C

=

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Simplifying each answer choice, we have:

A)

5x + 5y = 9y

5x = 4y

A is true.

B)

y = 5y - 5x

5x = 4y

B is true.

C)

5x - 5y = y

5x = 6y

C is not true.

Alternate Solution:

One solution for 5x = 4y is x = 4 and y = 5. Let’s substitute x = 4 and y = 5 to the given expressions until we find one which is not true:

A)

(4 + 5)/5 = 9/5

A is true.

B)

5/(5 - 4) = 5

B is true.

C)

(4 - 5)/5 = -1/5 ≠ 1/5

C is not true.

Answer: C

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If 5x = 4y, which of the following is NOT true?

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If 5x = 4y, which of the following is NOT true?

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