It is currently 29 Sep 2020, 08:10

### GMAT Club Daily Prep

#### Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

# If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many

 Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics
Author Message
TAGS:
Founder
Joined: 18 Apr 2015
Posts: 13406
Followers: 292

Kudos [?]: 3406 [0], given: 12285

If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many [#permalink]  16 May 2017, 07:59
Expert's post
00:00

Question Stats:

62% (01:07) correct 37% (00:55) wrong based on 114 sessions

If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many pencils can be bought for d dollars?

A) $$cdp$$

B) $$100 cdp$$

C) $$\frac{dp}{100c}$$

D) $$\frac{100cd}{p}$$

E) $$\frac{100 dp}{c}$$
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

_________________

Need Practice? 20 Free GRE Quant Tests available for free with 20 Kudos
GRE Prep Club Members of the Month: Each member of the month will get three months free access of GRE Prep Club tests.

GRE Instructor
Joined: 10 Apr 2015
Posts: 3840
Followers: 149

Kudos [?]: 4506 [3] , given: 69

Re: If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many [#permalink]  18 May 2017, 13:04
3
KUDOS
Expert's post
Carcass wrote:

If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many pencils can be bought for d dollars?

A) $$cdp$$

B) $$100 cdp$$

C) $$\frac{dp}{100c}$$

D) $$\frac{100cd}{p}$$

E) $$\frac{100 dp}{c}$$

These kinds of questions (Variables in the Answer Choices - VIACs) can be answered algebraically or using the INPUT-OUTPUT approach.

Let's use the INPUT-OUTPUT approach.

Pick some numbers that meet the given information.
Say p = 3 and c = 50
This means that we can buy 3 pencils for 50 cents (\$0.50)

Let's also say that d = 1
This means that the question is now asking "How many pencils can be bought for 1 dollar"
If we can buy 3 pencils for 50 cents, then we can buy 6 pencils for 1 dollar

So, when p = 3, c = 50 and d = 1, the answer to our question is 6 pencils.

Now let's take each answer choice and see which one yields an OUTPUT of 6, when we input p = 3, c = 50 and d = 1

A) cdp = (50)(1)(3) = 150. We need an output of 6. ELIMINATE.

B) 100cdp = (100)(50)(1)(3) = 15000. We need an output of 6. ELIMINATE.

C) dp/100c = (1)(3)/(100)(50) = 3/5000. We need an output of 6. ELIMINATE.

D) 100cd/p = (100)(50)(1)/(3) = 5000/3. We need an output of 6. ELIMINATE.

E) 100dp/c = (100)(1)(3)/(50) = 6. BINGO!

[Reveal] Spoiler:
E

RELATED VIDEO

_________________

Brent Hanneson – Creator of greenlighttestprep.com
If you enjoy my solutions, you'll like my GRE prep course.

Sign up for GRE Question of the Day emails

Manager
Joined: 19 Mar 2018
Posts: 61
Followers: 1

Kudos [?]: 25 [1] , given: 34

Re: If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many [#permalink]  17 Sep 2018, 00:41
1
KUDOS
Step 1 - pc - p pencils* c cents
step 2 - p pencils into d dollars --> d dollars to cents --100d
divided by no of cents --> 100pd/ c
GRE Instructor
Joined: 10 Apr 2015
Posts: 3840
Followers: 149

Kudos [?]: 4506 [2] , given: 69

Re: If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many [#permalink]  18 Mar 2019, 09:57
2
KUDOS
Expert's post
Carcass wrote:

If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many pencils can be bought for d dollars?

A) $$cdp$$

B) $$100 cdp$$

C) $$\frac{dp}{100c}$$

D) $$\frac{100cd}{p}$$

E) $$\frac{100 dp}{c}$$

A student asked me to solve this algebraically. So, here it goes:

p pencils cost c cents at the same rate
So, the COST PER PENCIL = c/p CENTS

ASIDE: if you're not sure how to find price per pencil, you might first examine a few examples.
For example, if 3 pencils cost 6 cents, then the cost per pencil = 2 cents (notice that 6/3 = 2)
Likewise, if 4 pencils cost 20 cents, then the cost per pencil = 5 cents (notice that 20/4 = 5)
Likewise, if 7 pencils cost 63 cents, then the cost per pencil = 9 cents (notice that 63/7 = 9)
So, if p pencils cost c cents, then the cost per pencil = c/p cents

How many pencils can be bought for d dollars?
Our price per pencils is in CENTS
So, we must convert d dollars to CENTS.
Well, d dollars = 100d CENTS

ASIDE: Once again, if you're not sure how to convert d dollars to CENTS, you might first examine a few examples.
4 dollars = 400 cents, since there are 100 cents in 1 dollar (notice that 4 x 100 = 400)
Likewise, 9 dollars = 900 cents, since there are 100 cents in 1 dollar (notice that 9 x 100 = 900)
Likewise, 15 dollars = 1500 cents, since there are 100 cents in 1 dollar (notice that 15 x 100 = 1500)
Applying the same logic, we can see that d dollars = 100d CENTS

Number of items we can buy = (amount of money we have)/(price per item)
= (100d CENTS)/(c/p CENTS)
= (100d)(p/c)
= 100dp/c

Cheers,
Brent
_________________

Brent Hanneson – Creator of greenlighttestprep.com
If you enjoy my solutions, you'll like my GRE prep course.

Sign up for GRE Question of the Day emails

Manager
Joined: 19 Nov 2018
Posts: 102
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 106 [0], given: 53

Re: If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many [#permalink]  01 Aug 2019, 07:26
Basically, we can think of this as a conversion problem where we are converting dollars to pencils.
We are given d dollars
and a ratio of p pencils/c cents

To convert the d dollars to pencils we must first convert d dollars to cents
(by multiplying by 100, b/c there are 100 cents per dollar) then we can multiply by the ratio of pencils to cents
the cents units will cancel leaving the # of pencils

d • $$\frac{p}{c}$$

d(100) • $$\frac{p}{c}$$

$$\frac{100dp}{c}$$

I show it all in detail in the attached file. Personally, I think the use of d and c for # of dollars and # of cents is confusing when writing everything out because we have to cancel units, and it becomes unclear what's being cancelled.
Attachments

daum_equation_1564672450483.jpg [ 167.94 KiB | Viewed 5071 times ]

Intern
Status: Trying to get rich every single day.
Affiliations: Me.
Joined: 25 Aug 2019
Posts: 21
Location: Netherlands
More precise location: Amsterdam
Followers: 1

Kudos [?]: 32 [0], given: 12

Re: If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many [#permalink]  24 Nov 2019, 02:30
This is a simple "Proportions" problem.
Please ignore all the "bullshit", strategies or whatever. Do not plug in numbers. ONLY CREATE A PROPORTION and solve for X:

In order for c to be equal to d, you to have to multiply d by 100 (because you want to express it in dollars)

If you don't understand this solution, it's OK. It takes time to come up with this method.
But it's really fast when you learn how to do it. Always form a proportion on these problems.
_________________

Re: If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many   [#permalink] 24 Nov 2019, 02:30
Display posts from previous: Sort by

# If p pencils cost c cents at the same rate, how many

 Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics

 Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group Kindly note that the GRE® test is a registered trademark of the Educational Testing Service®, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by ETS®.