==Practice ==**

SET

17.
From the question we know that 40 percent of the violet/green mix is blue pigment. We also
know that 30 percent of the violet paint and 50 percent of the green paint is blue pigment.
Since the blue pigment in the violet/green mix is the same blue pigment in the original violet
and green paints, we can construct the following equation:

.3v + .5g = .4(v + g)

.3v + .5g = .4v + .4g
.1g = .1v
g=v

Therefore, the amount of violet paint is equal to the amount of green paint in the brown
mixture, each contributing 50 percent of the total. Since the red pigment represents 70
percent of the weight of the violet paint, it must account for 70 percent of 50 percent of the
weight of the brown mix. This represents (.7)(.5) = .35, or 35% of the total weight of the
brown mix. Since we have 10 grams of the brown paint, the red pigment must account for
(.35)(10) = 3.5 grams of the brown paint.

There is an alternative way to come up with the conclusion that there must be equal amounts
of green and violet paints in the mix. Since there is blue paint in both the violet and green
paints, when we combine the two paints, the percentage of blue paint in the mix will be a
weighted average of the percentages of blue in the violet paint and the percentage of blue in
the green paint. For example, if there is twice as much violet as green in the brown mix, the
percentage of blue in the violet will get double weighted. From looking at the numbers,
however, 40% is exactly the simple average of the 30% blue in violet and the 50% blue in
green. This means that there must be an equal amount of both paints in the mix.

Since there are equal amounts of violet and green paint in the 10 grams of brown mixture,
there must be 5 grams of each. The violet paint is 70% red, so there must be (.7)(5) = 3.5
grams of red paint in the mix.

The correct answer is B.

18.
This question requires us to untangle a series of ratios among the numbers of workers in the
various years in order to find the number of workers after the first year. We can solve this
problem by setting up a grid to keep track of the information:
Before After Year 1 After Year 2 After Year 3 After Year 4

We are told initially that after the four-year period, the company has 10,500 employees:
Before After Year 1 After Year 2 After Year 3 After Year 4
10,500

We are then told that the ratio of the number of workers after the fourth year to the number of
workers after the second year is 6 to 1. This implies that the number of workers after the
fourth year is six times greater than that after the second year. Thus the number of workers
after the second year must be 10,500/6 = 1,750:
Before After Year 1 After Year 2 After Year 3 After Year 4
1,750 10,500

We are then told that the ratio of the number of workers after the third year to the number
after the first year is 14 to 1. We can incorporate this into the chart:
Before After Year 1 After Year 2 After Year 3 After Year 4
x 1,750 14x 10,500

Now we are told that the ratio of the number of workers after the third year to that before the
period began is 70 to 1. We can incorporate this into the chart as well:
Before After Year 1 After Year 2 After Year 3 After Year 4
14x
Y x 1,750 10,500
70y

From the chart we can see that 14x = 70y. Thus x = 5y:
Before After Year 1 After Year 2 After Year 3 After Year 4
Y 5y 1,750 70y 10,500

Since the ratio between consecutive years is always an integer and since after three years the
number of workers is 70 times greater, we know that the series of ratios for the first three
years must include a 2, a 5, and a 7 (because 2 x 5 x 7 = 70). But this fact by itself does not
tell us the order of the ratios. In other words, is it 2 - 5 - 7 or 7 - 2 - 5 or 5 - 2 - 7, etc? We do
know, however, that the factor of 5 is accounted for in the first year. So we need to know
whether the number of workers in the second year is twice as many or seven times as many
as in the first year. 

Recall that the number of workers after the fourth year is six times greater than that after the
second year.  This implies that the ratios for the third and fourth years must be 2 and 3 or 3
and 2. This in turn implies that the ratio of 7 to 1 must be between the first and second years. 
So 1,750 is 7 times greater than the number of workers after the first year. Thus, 1,750/7 =
250.

Alternatively, since the question states that the ratio between any two years is always an
integer, we know that 1,750 must be a multiple of the number of workers after the first year. 
Since only 70 and 250 are factors of 1750, we know the answer must be either choice B or
choice C. If we assume that the number of workers after the first year is 70, however, we can
see that this must cannot work. The number of workers always increases from year to year,
but if 70 is the number of workers after the first year and if the number of workers after the
third year is 14 times greater than that, the number of workers after the third year would be
14 x 70 = 980, which is less than the number of workers after the second year. So choice B is
eliminated and the answer must be choice C.

The correct answer is choice C: 250.