Question

To order certain plants from a catalog, it costs 3.00USD per plant, plus a 5 percent sales tax, plus 6.95USD for shipping and handling regardless of the number of plants ordered. If Company C ordered these plants from the catalog at the total cost of 69.95USD, how many plants did Company C order?
GMAT Panda Logo

Answer Choices

  • A.
    22
  • B.
    21
  • C.
    20
  • D.
    19
  • E.
    18

Steps

ExplanationCalculationsHelp
We first define an unknown for the number of plants Company C ordered.
Theory & Tactics Method Card
TRANS1-A
Click to view full details
We translate into multiplying the plant cost by 1.05.
Theory & Tactics Method Card
TRANS2-D
Click to view full details
We translate into adding 6.95 and into an equality.
Theory & Tactics Method Card
TRANS1-C
Click to view full details
Theory & Tactics Method Card
TRANS1-B
Click to view full details
We simplify the multiplication by distributing the tax and combining like terms.
We subtract 6.95 from both sides to isolate the term with .
Theory & Tactics Method Card
EQUA1-A
Click to view full details
We divide both sides by 3.15 to solve for .
Theory & Tactics Method Card
EQUA1-A
Click to view full details
Scroll horizontally to view all columns

Final Answer

Company C ordered 20 plants, so the answer is 20 (Option C).