Thread:Balu.ur/@comment-25501845-20141110152352/@comment-24808864-20141111000253

4) Raman bought 5 flower pots of three different sizes for total of Rs.290/-. Each pot costs 50% more than the next one below it in size. What was the cost of the largest flower pot? (This is really hard, at least for me)

a) Rs.80

b) Rs.90

c) Rs.75

d) Rs.60

OK, I got an answer by working backwards.

Among the answer choices, if the expensive pot cannot be 80, because (3/2)(cost of medium pot)=(cost of expensive pot), so the cost of the cheaper pot is (2/3) the expensive pot. But then the expensive pot cannot be 80, since that is not divisible by three!

Therefore the cost of the medium pot would be b)60 c)50 or d)40.

But the cost of the medium pot could not be 50 or 40 since those are not divisible by three (same reason as the first part).

Therefore the cost of the cheap pot would be 40, medium pot 60, large pot 90.

By the way, this means the five pots that were purchased must have been 2 small, 2 medium, and 1 large for five pots at a cost of $$ 2\times 40+2\times 60+1\times 90=290 $$.

I will think about this one more, in case there is a straightforward way to get it, but my instinct is that on a multiple choice test you might just "work in backwards."