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# Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp

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CEO
Joined: 11 Sep 2015
Posts: 3122
Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp  [#permalink]

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28 Feb 2017, 08:50
6
Top Contributor
25
00:00

Difficulty:

95% (hard)

Question Stats:

44% (02:19) correct 56% (02:48) wrong based on 168 sessions

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Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp was 2:3. Today, Gigacorp hired an additional 81 employees, and the ratio of males to females is now 6:5 (no employees left or were fired). What is the least number of males that could have been working at Gigacorp yesterday?

A) 16
B) 24
C) 39
D) 40
E) 42

*Kudos for all correct solutions

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CEO
Joined: 11 Sep 2015
Posts: 3122
Re: Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp  [#permalink]

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28 Feb 2017, 13:52
5
Top Contributor
3
GMATPrepNow wrote:
Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp was 2:3. Today, Gigacorp hired an additional 81 employees, and the ratio of males to females is now 6:5 (no employees left or were fired). What is the least number of males that could have been working at Gigacorp yesterday?

A) 16
B) 24
C) 39
D) 40
E) 42

Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp was 2:3
There are many scenarios that meet this condition:
- Gigacorp employs 2 males and 3 females (for a TOTAL of 5 employees)
- Gigacorp employs 4 males and 6 females (for a TOTAL of 10 employees)
- Gigacorp employs 6 males and 9 females (for a TOTAL of 15 employees)
- Gigacorp employs 8 males and 23 females (for a TOTAL of 20 employees)
.
.
.
etc.

Notice that the TOTAL number of employees yesterday is a multiple of 5. This is because our ratio of 2:5 tells us that, for every 5 employees, 2 are males and 3 are females. Since the number of males and females must be POSITIVE INTEGERS, the TOTAL number of employees yesterday must be a multiple of 5

Today, Gigacorp hired an additional 81 employees, and the ratio of males to females is now 6:5
By the same logic, the NEW TOTAL number of employees must be a multiple of 11, since this new information tells us that, for every 11 employees, 6 are males and 5 are females.

So, once we add 81 to yesterday's TOTAL, the NEW TOTAL must be a multiple of 11.

Let's see what happens if there was a TOTAL of 5 employees yesterday.
NEW TOTAL = 5 + 81 = 86.
Since 86 is NOT a multiple of 11, it cannot be the case that there was a TOTAL of 5 employees yesterday.

Let's see what happens if there was a TOTAL of 10 employees yesterday.
NEW TOTAL = 10 + 81 = 91.
Since 91 is NOT a multiple of 11, it cannot be the case that there was a TOTAL of 10 employees yesterday.

Let's see what happens if there was a TOTAL of 15 employees yesterday.
NEW TOTAL = 15 + 81 = 96.
Since 96 is NOT a multiple of 11, it cannot be the case that there was a TOTAL of 15 employees yesterday.

Notice that each NEW TOTAL follows the pattern: 86, 91, 96, 101, etc (the units digit of each number is either 1 or 6.
So, let's continue the pattern until we get to the first multiple of 11
86, 91, 96, 101, 106, 111, 116, 121

BINGO!
When the NEW TOTAL = 121, then the OLD TOTAL = 121 - 81 = 40
So, 40 is the smallest possible number of employees yesterday.
Since the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp was 2:3 yesterday, we can conclude that there were 16 males and 24 females.

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Senior Manager
Joined: 13 Oct 2016
Posts: 367
GPA: 3.98
Re: Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp  [#permalink]

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28 Feb 2017, 12:27
4
1
GMATPrepNow wrote:
Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp was 2:3. Today, Gigacorp hired an additional 81 employees, and the ratio of males to females is now 6:5 (no employees left or were fired). What is the least number of males that could have been working at Gigacorp yesterday?

A) 16
B) 24
C) 39
D) 40
E) 42

*Kudos for all correct solutions

Hi

Nice question.

$$(1) 2x + 3x = N$$

$$5x = N$$

$$(2) 6y + 5y = N + 81$$

$$11y = N + 81$$

$$(2) - (1)$$
$$11y - 5x = 81$$

$$y_0 = 11, x_0 = 8$$

$$2x = 2*8 = 16$$

##### General Discussion
Intern
Joined: 06 Feb 2015
Posts: 2
Re: Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp  [#permalink]

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28 Feb 2017, 12:10
3
The answer should be a multiple of 2 as the ratio of male to female originally was 2:3 . Now eliminate ans choice 39. Remaining 16,24,40 and 42.

A. If we choose 16 as 2x , then 3x will be 24 and the total will be (16+24) 40. Adding 81 employees gives total of 121 employees. we know that the new ratio is 5:6. There fore 5x + 6x = 11x. This tells us,the answer has to be divided by 11. Clearly 121 is divisible by 11.
Perform same logic for other options 24, 40 and 42. The end result is not divisible by 11. So going for Option A 16.

There must by easy way to solve this. But this came in handy as we have the options listed out.
Senior Manager
Joined: 28 May 2017
Posts: 287
Concentration: Finance, General Management
Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp  [#permalink]

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17 Sep 2017, 21:25
1
GMATPrepNow wrote:
Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp was 2:3. Today, Gigacorp hired an additional 81 employees, and the ratio of males to females is now 6:5 (no employees left or were fired). What is the least number of males that could have been working at Gigacorp yesterday?

A) 16
B) 24
C) 39
D) 40
E) 42

*Kudos for all correct solutions

Logical Approach for this NICE question -

Original Ratio of Male to Female = 2x:3x
Total Original Population = 5x

After adding 81 employee New Ratio of Male to Female = 6y:5y
Total New Population = 11y

We May Write -
5x + 81 = 11y
Above equation conveys that LHS must be DIVISIBLE by 11
5x + 4+ 77 = 11y

After Reducing
5x + 4 = 11y

Value of 2x is given in the options. Just Plug the value of x in above equation to get the answer.

Only option A would FIT.

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Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 8816
Re: Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp  [#permalink]

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18 Oct 2018, 08:59
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Re: Yesterday, the ratio of males to females working at Gigacorp &nbs [#permalink] 18 Oct 2018, 08:59
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