What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? : DS Archive

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Bambi2021

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

08 Jul 2021, 12:29

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I think this is a poor quality question and I dont agree with the OA.

(1) is clearly insufficient. It only states that 4 markers can be purchased for 36 dollars. It does not state whether 4 markers is the maximum number of markers that can be purchased for 36 dollars.

Maybe 6 markers can also be purchased for 36 dollars?

Either this is not an OG-question, or something must be missing in the transcription.

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

22 Jul 2021, 11:07

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Hey Bunuel bb GMATNinja
I want you to clarify please this question.
In statement A it gives that 4 markers can be purchased $36. It nowhere states that these markers are of the same price and hence we can't assume that 2 is maximum for $18
What if the price is $1, $1, $1 and $33. The the maximum will be 3 and not 2 (as stated in OA)

Please check this and tell me if this is even slightly close to an actual question.

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

22 Jul 2021, 11:19

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Expert Reply

I spotted the same issue as well. The question does not say specifically if the price means exact amount or if you have money left over.

I am trying to figure out if that plays into the question and impacts the solution.

I’m also manually searching through my OG 11 and so far I’m not finding this question so you may be onto something here. It may not have been tagged correctly.

Bambi2021 wrote:

I think this is a poor quality question and I dont agree with the OA.

(1) is clearly insufficient. It only states that 4 markers can be purchased for 36 dollars. It does not state whether 4 markers is the maximum number of markers that can be purchased for 36 dollars.

Maybe 6 markers can also be purchased for 36 dollars?

Either this is not an OG-question, or something must be missing in the transcription.

Posted from my mobile device

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

Updated on: 23 Jun 2020, 13:51

Answer: Option D

Statement 1: 4 markers or 6 pens or 12 pencils can be purchased for $36

4 markers sold for 36$
$=> $2 markers = 36 / 2 = 18$

So, 2 markers can be sold for 18$

SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: If the cost of each marker is increased by $3, 5 less markers can be purchased for $180

(price of one marker) * (Num of markers) = 180$

After cost increased by 3$ each,

(price of one marker + 3) * (Num of markers - 5) = 180$

By solving above we can get:

$=> $price of one marker = 9$
$=> $Num of markers = 20

So, 18$ / 9$ = 2 (2 markers can be sold for 18$)

SUFFICIENT

Originally posted by Codebug4it on 21 Jun 2020, 05:44.
Last edited by Codebug4it on 23 Jun 2020, 13:51, edited 1 time in total.

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sachin91

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

21 Jun 2020, 06:18

Statement 1:
In $36,4 markers can be purchased.
In $18,2 markers can be bought.
Hence,Statement 1 alone is sufficient.

Statement2:
Let total no of markers be x and price of each markers be y.
Intially,xy = 180 ----- eqn 1

After price is increased.
(x-5)(y+3) = 180. -- eqn 2

Since,we have two equations with two variables, we will get unique values of x and y.

Once,we find price of each market,which is y,we can find out numbet of markers that can bought for $18.
Hence,statement 2 alone is also sufficient.

Note: Don't waste time finding x and y as it is not required.

OA - D

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mayankmsr

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

26 Jun 2021, 04:49

Can anyone please explain why Statement 2 alone is sufficient?

As we have two variables, we will need value of atleast one variable to determine the exact value of other.

Considering, trial and error method, if we put random nos. of markers, we will get different values for the cost.

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

27 Jun 2021, 21:16

Bunuel wrote:

What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18?

(1) 4 markers or 6 pens or 12 pencils can be purchased for $36

(2) If the cost of each marker is increased by $3, 5 less markers can be purchased for $180

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Bunuel In Statement 2, can we assume that $180 is the exact amount required to pay for markers? What I mean to state is that there shall be no remainder when 180 is divided by the price of one marker?

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

18 Jul 2021, 00:54

Bunuel wrote:

What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18?

(1) 4 markers or 6 pens or 12 pencils can be purchased for $36

(2) If the cost of each marker is increased by $3, 5 less markers can be purchased for $180

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Hi chetan2u,

So was trying to understand if we should at least form the quadratic and check if it leads to one positive root and one negative root in the 2nd statement?
Or just call it sufficient becasue we have 2 equations and 2 variables? What if we get 2 positive roots?

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Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

22 Jul 2021, 11:12

Expert Reply

You are correct. The question does not state a number of assumptions. BUT, You have to assume that they are of the same price…. otherwise you would not be able to answer most questions on the GMAT. Imagine the question about a probability of picking a marble out of a box. E.g. you would not assume that marbles are different and one is the size of a P and another one is the size of an orange?

There are other potential issues with the question however.

KabxW wrote:

Hey Bunuel bb GMATNinja
I want you to clarify please this question.
In statement A it gives that 4 markers can be purchased $36. It nowhere states that these markers are of the same price and hence we can't assume that 2 is maximum for $18
What if the price is $1, $1, $1 and $33. The the maximum will be 3 and not 2 (as stated in OA)

Please check this and tell me if this is even slightly close to an actual question.

Posted from my mobile device

gmatclubot

Re: What is the greatest number of markers that can be purchased for $18? [#permalink]

22 Jul 2021, 11:12