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# At noon of a certain day, when 5 pens and 3 pencils were

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Intern
Joined: 22 Aug 2018
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Kudos [?]: 4 [1] , given: 4

At noon of a certain day, when 5 pens and 3 pencils were [#permalink]  10 Sep 2018, 00:47
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Question Stats:

21% (01:56) correct 78% (00:48) wrong based on 19 sessions
At noon of a certain day, when 5 pens and 3 pencils were placed in a drawer, the ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in that drawer became 47 to 17.

 Quantity A Quantity B The ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in the drawer immediately before noon of that day $$\frac{3}{1}$$

A) Quantity A is greater.
B) Quantity B is greater.
C) The two quantities are equal.
D) The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Can someone explain this in very very simpler terms?
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
GRE Instructor
Joined: 10 Apr 2015
Posts: 1232
Followers: 45

Kudos [?]: 1113 [2] , given: 7

Re: At noon of a certain day, when 5 pens and 3 pencils were [#permalink]  10 Sep 2018, 04:59
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Expert's post
rajlal wrote:
At noon of a certain day, when 5 pens and 3 pencils were placed in a drawer, the ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in that drawer became 47 to 17.

 Quantity A Quantity B The ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in the drawer immediately before noon of that day $$\frac{3}{1}$$

A) Quantity A is greater.
B) Quantity B is greater.
C) The two quantities are equal.
D) The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Can someone explain this in very very simpler terms?

KEY INFORMATION: After the pens and pencils were added, the ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in that drawer became 47 to 17 (aka 47/17).

Here's one possible scenario:
BEFORE NOON, the drawer contained 42 pens and 14 pencils.
So, after the 5 pens and 3 pencils were added, the drawer contained 47 pens and 17 pencils, giving us our ratio of 47/17
In this case, ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in the drawer BEFORE NOON = 42/14 = 3/1
We get:
Quantity A: 3/1
Quantity B: 3/1
The two quantities are EQUAL

IMPORTANT: Are there any other scenarios that satisfy the given conditions?
YES! There are infinitely many scenarios, because the key ratio in the question (47/17) has INFINITELY MANY equivalent ration.
For example, 47/17 = 94/34 = 141/51 = 470/170 etc

So, let's examine another possible scenario
BEFORE NOON, the drawer contained 89 pens and 31 pencils.
So, after the 5 pens and 3 pencils were added, the drawer contained 94 pens and 34 pencils, giving us our ratio of 94/34, which is EQUIVALENT to 47/17
In this case, ratio of the number of pens to the number of pencils in the drawer BEFORE NOON = 89/31
We get:
Quantity A: 89/31
Quantity B: 3/1
The two quantities are NOT equal

Cheers,
Brent
_________________

Brent Hanneson – Creator of greenlighttestprep.com

Re: At noon of a certain day, when 5 pens and 3 pencils were   [#permalink] 10 Sep 2018, 04:59
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