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excelingmat
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A game consists of tossing a coin successively. There is an entry fee of Rs. 10 and an additional fee of Rs. 1 for each toss of the coin. The game is considered to have ended normally when the coin turns heads on two consecutive throws. In this case the player is paid Rs. 100. Alternatively, the player can choose to terminate the game prematurely after any of the tosses. Ram has incurred a loss of Rs. 50 by playing this game. How many times did he toss the coin?

The formula for winnings/losses is:

Winnings/Losses=-10-(Tosses)+Normal Ending Bonus (if the game ends normally)

-50=-10-(Tosses)+Normal Ending Bonus Received

Then

Tosses=40+Normal Ending Bonus Received

A. The game ended normally.

We know that if the game ends normally, you get 100 RS

Tosses=40+100=140

SUFFICIENT

B. The total number of tails obtained in the game was 138.

We know that he tossed at least 140 times BUT we don't know if:

A. There were heads in between some tails tosses

B. There are conditions to end the game other than flipping 2 heads (and we don't know if these have certain bonuses)

INSUFFICIENT

Answer is A

Key part here is realizing that with Statement 1, there could be other situations that may result in the game ending but these situations aren't discussed by the problem.
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A game consists of tossing a coin successively. There is an entry fee of Rs. 10 and an additional fee of Rs. 1 for each toss of the coin. The game is considered to have ended normally when the coin turns heads on two consecutive throws. In this case the player is paid Rs. 100. Alternatively, the player can choose to terminate the game prematurely after any of the tosses. Ram has incurred a loss of Rs. 50 by playing this game. How many times did he toss the coin?

The formula for winnings/losses is:

Winnings/Losses=-10-(Tosses)+Normal Ending Bonus (if the game ends normally)

-50=-10-(Tosses)+Normal Ending Bonus Received

Then

Tosses=40+Normal Ending Bonus Received

A. The game ended normally.

We know that if the game ends normally, you get 100 RS

Tosses=40+100=140

SUFFICIENT

B. The total number of tails obtained in the game was 138.

We know that he tossed at least 140 times BUT we don't know if:

A. There were heads in between some tails tosses

B. There are conditions to end the game other than flipping 2 heads (and we don't know if these have certain bonuses)

INSUFFICIENT

Answer is A

Key part here is realizing that with Statement 1, there could be other situations that may result in the game ending but these situations aren't discussed by the problem.

hi,

Is this the general formula? If yes, then what happens when the game doesn't end normally.
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excelingmat

hi,

Is this the general formula? If yes, then what happens when the game doesn't end normally.

A better way to express the formula might be:

Winnings/Losses=-10-(Tosses)+Ending Bonus/Cost

Ending Bonus/Cost is equal to 100 when the game ends normally

Ending Bonus/Cost is unknown when the game doesn't end normally.

We just have to know that there is more than 1 way to end the game, so in statement 2, we don't know if the number of tails he got means he had 140 tosses and ended the game normally or if he tossed the coin at least 138 times (we know he took at least 138 tosses but we don't know how the game was ended. For all we know, the game ends abnormally when you toss 138 tails in a row) and the Ending Bonus/Cost when ending the game abnormally happens to also result in him losing 50 Rs.
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There are conditions to end the game other than flipping 2 heads (and we don't know if these have certain bonuses)
isn't it safe to assume that there would be no bonus, i.e. 0 bonus, if the game ends prematurely?
I assumed that and arrived at D from statement B as well..
jmikery
A game consists of tossing a coin successively. There is an entry fee of Rs. 10 and an additional fee of Rs. 1 for each toss of the coin. The game is considered to have ended normally when the coin turns heads on two consecutive throws. In this case the player is paid Rs. 100. Alternatively, the player can choose to terminate the game prematurely after any of the tosses. Ram has incurred a loss of Rs. 50 by playing this game. How many times did he toss the coin?

The formula for winnings/losses is:

Winnings/Losses=-10-(Tosses)+Normal Ending Bonus (if the game ends normally)

-50=-10-(Tosses)+Normal Ending Bonus Received

Then

Tosses=40+Normal Ending Bonus Received

A. The game ended normally.

We know that if the game ends normally, you get 100 RS

Tosses=40+100=140

SUFFICIENT

B. The total number of tails obtained in the game was 138.

We know that he tossed at least 140 times BUT we don't know if:

A. There were heads in between some tails tosses

B. There are conditions to end the game other than flipping 2 heads (and we don't know if these have certain bonuses)

INSUFFICIENT

Answer is A

Key part here is realizing that with Statement 1, there could be other situations that may result in the game ending but these situations aren't discussed by the problem.
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