A newspaper report shows about 10% of the meals prepared by Hospital X were wasted despite the hospital's stated goal...
GMAT Two Part Analysis : (TPA) Questions
A newspaper report shows about 10% of the meals prepared by Hospital X were wasted despite the hospital's stated goal to significantly reduce its waste. The meals that were reportedly wasted cost the hospital $200,000 to prepare. The hospital prepared a total of 400,000 meals for employees, visitors, and patients during that time. The hospital's total annual budget last year was $10 million.
In the table, select for Food waste as % of total budget the percentage of the hospital's annual budget represented by the wasted meals, and select for Average meal cost ($) the average cost to the hospital of each meal that was wasted, according to the information provided. Make only two selections, one in each column.
Phase 1: Owning the Dataset
Visualizing the Information
Let's organize the hospital's meal data in a simple flow diagram:
Total Hospital Budget: $10,000,000
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v
Total Meals Prepared: 400,000 meals
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v
Wasted Meals: 10% = 40,000 meals
Cost of Wasted Meals: $200,000
Key Relationships
- 10% of meals were wasted
- Wasted meals cost $200,000 total
- Total budget was $10 million
Phase 2: Understanding the Question
We need to find:
- Food waste as % of total budget: What percentage of the $10 million budget does the $200,000 in waste represent?
- Average meal cost ($): What's the average cost of each wasted meal?
Breaking Down the Calculations
For the first part:
- We have: Waste cost = $200,000
- We have: Total budget = $10,000,000
- We need: (Waste cost ÷ Total budget) × 100%
For the second part:
- We need to find: Number of wasted meals
- Then: Average cost = Total waste cost ÷ Number of wasted meals
Phase 3: Finding the Answer
Calculation 1: Food waste as % of total budget
Percentage = \(($200,000 ÷ $10,000,000) × 100%\)
Let's simplify:
- \($200,000 ÷ $10,000,000 = 0.02\)
- \(0.02 × 100% = 2%\)
✓ Food waste represents 2% of the total budget
Calculation 2: Average meal cost
First, let's find how many meals were wasted:
- Total meals = 400,000
- Wasted meals = \(10% \text{ of } 400,000 = 0.10 × 400,000 = 40,000 \text{ meals}\)
Now we can find the average cost:
- Average cost = \($200,000 ÷ 40,000 \text{ meals}\)
- Average cost = $5 per meal
✓ Each wasted meal costs an average of $5
Phase 4: Solution
Based on our calculations:
- Food waste as % of total budget: 2
- Average meal cost ($): 5
These answers make logical sense: the hospital wasted 2% of its budget on food waste, with each wasted meal costing $5 on average.