robu wrote:
Water is taken out of a cylindrical bucket by filling a cylindrical mug to the brim. How many mugs of water does the bucket contain?
1. The height of the bucket is three times the height of the mug and the radius of the bucket is twice the diameter of the mug
2. The bucket is filled to 70 percent of its capacity
Dear
robuI'm happy to respond.
I don't know the source, but this question is not GMAT-like at all. The scenario is quite unclear: for example, if we can only remove water from the bucket by dipping the mug into the stationary bucket, then once the water level gets low, lower than half the radius of the mug, then it would not be possible to fill the mug by dipping it into the bucket. If, on the other hand, we can tilt the bucket and pour even the last little bit into the mug, then we could empty the bucket.
Another lack of clarity concerns a scenario in which the volume of water in the bucket does not equal a whole number of mugs. The question quite clearly specifies filling the mug to the brim. If we combine both statements, we can remove eight full mugs, and then what will be left in the bucket is 3.333% of its capacity, which would be 40% of the capacity of the mug. Obviously, that doesn't count as a full mug. Is the question asking for the number of full mugs, or would it count a "decimal or fraction part" of a mug?
In a good GMAT question, all of these things would be clarified already.
Does all this make sense?
Mike