SSAT Math Question 579: Answer and Explanation

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Question: 579

8. Only one-fifth of the chairs in a classroom are in working order. If three additional working chairs are brought in, there are 19 working seats available. How many chairs were originally in the room?

  • A. 16
  • B. 19
  • C. 22
  • D. 80

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

Since the question asks for a specific value, use PITA to answer the question, starting with (C). The choices represent the original number of chairs. Notice that with (C), there is a problem. If there were 22 chairs originally and only one-fifth worked, that would leave a remainder-22 does not divide by 5 evenly. Eliminate (C). Next try (D) since 80 is a multiple of 5. If there were 80 chairs originally, there would be 16 chairs in working order since × 80 = = 16. The problem states that 3 more chairs were added: 16 + 3 = 19, which is the number of available working seats. Since this works, stop here. The correct answer is (D).

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