Question: At a supermarket, John spent 1/2 of his money on fresh fruits and vegetables, 1/3 on meat products, and 1/10 on bakery products. If he spent the remaining $6 on candy, how much did John spend at the supermarket?

(A) $60
(B) $80
(C) $90
(D) $120
(E) $180

Correct Answer: (C)

Solution and Explanation:
Approach Solution 1:

The problem statement informs that:

Given:

• John spent 1/2 of his money on fresh fruits and vegetables.
• He spent 1/3 on meat products.
• He spent 1/10 on bakery products.
• He spent the remaining $6 on candy.

Find out:

• How much did John spend at the supermarket?

Let’s total amount of money is 1 part.
It is given that 1/2 part, 1/3 part and 1/10 part of his money is spent on certain items
Therefore, the remaining money John has with him = 1− (½ + ⅓ + 1/10) = 1/15
Hence 1/15 of his money is spent on candy.
As per the question, he spent $6 on candy,
Therefore, he spent a total of $6∗15= 90 at the supermarket.

Approach Solution 2:

The problem statement states that:

Given:

• John spent 1/2 of his money on fresh fruits and vegetables.
• He spent 1/3 on meat products.
• He spent 1/10 on bakery products.
• He spent the remaining $6 on candy.

Find out:

• The amount John spends at the supermarket.

Let the total amount of money John spends is x part.
Therefore, John spent on fruits and vegetables, meat and bakery products
= x/2 + x/3 + x/10
= 28x/30

Therefore, the remaining money he has with him= x - 28x/30 = 2x/30
Since he spent the remaining $6 on candy, it infers that
2x/30 = 6
Therefore, x = 90

Hence, the amount John spends at the supermarket = 90.

Approach Solution 3:

The problem statement states that:

Given:

• John spent 1/2 of his money on fresh fruits and vegetables.
• He spent 1/3 on meat products.
• He spent 1/10 on bakery products.
• He spent the remaining $6 on candy.

Find out:

• The amount John spends at the supermarket.

The problem can be solved with a quicker and easier approach.
Let’s start with the 1st option i.e 60.
According to the question, 1/2 of 60 = 30, 1/3 of 60 = 20 and 1/10 of 60 = 6, then sum of all of them i.e 30+20+6=56.
Therefore, 60-56=4 remains for candy.

Now, the remaining is 4 when the number is 60.
Using the unitary method, if the remaining is 6, then the number will be (60/4)*6 = 15*6 = 90.
Therefore, the amount John spends at the supermarket = 90.

“At a supermarket, John spent 1/2 of his money on fresh fruits”- is a topic of the GMAT Quantitative reasoning section of the GMAT exam. This topic has been taken from the book “GMAT Official Guide 2018”. The GMAT Problem Solving questions measure the candidates’ skills in calculating quantitative problems. GMAT Quant practice papers help the candidates to practice different types of questions that will polish up their calculative skills.

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