The ratio of men to children on a tour is 8:3. How many men are there?

Question

(1) Ratio of children to women is 5:13
(2) There are fewer than 50 women on the tour.

Nightmare007 · Answer

i will go with C. my reasoning m:c = 8:3,
with A. we get ratio of m:c:w = 40:15:39. can be multiples of same. cant answer our question 
B gives w <50 
hence w= 39, m= 40.

Target gmat against the odds.

Bunuel · Answer

The ratio of men to children on a tour is 8:3. How many men are there?

men/children = 8/3

(1) Ratio of children to women is 5:13 --> children/women = 5/13 = 15/39. From above men/children = 40/15. Thus, men/children/women = 40/15/39. We know only ratios and cannot get the numerical value of men. Not sufficient.

(2) There are fewer than 50 women on the tour. Clearly insufficient.

(1)+(2) From men/children/women = 40/15/39 it follows that the number of women is a multiple of 39. Since we know that there are fewer than 50 women, then there must be 39 women, which implies that there are 40 men. Sufficient.

Answer: C.

Hope it's clear.

Dsgshanky · Answer

C, 
1. ratio of m:c:w is 40:15:39, doesn't tell anything about number of men
2.w<50,alone doesn't tell anything about men
 Combined, w must be 39 hence m is 40, sufficient.

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CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Statement I
Children : Women = 5 : 13.
Since a ratio does not necessarily represent the actual values, we will not be able to calculate the exact values of the number of children and hence the number of men.
(insufficient)

Statement II
There are fewer than 50 women on the tour.
This data is grossly insufficient since, we don't know the exact number of women, and hence we can know nothing about the exact number of men.
(insufficient)

Combining statements I and II
From statement I and the question data, we get on bridging the ratios,

Men : Children : Women = 40 : 15 : 39

And statement II says that the number of women is less than 50.

So, the only way in which this can happen is the number of women being 39
(since the multiplier cannot be a fraction because we are dealing with people imagine saying the number of women is 39 * 0.5)
Therefore, the number of men has to be 40 * 1= 40.

Option C is the answer.

Thanks,
  Clifin J Francis,
GMAT SME

The ratio of men to children on a tour is 8:3. How many men are there?

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