High School Placement Test (HSPT) Practice Test

Barbara has five nickels more than Barry. Jane has 15 cents less than Barbara. Barry has more money than Jane. If the first two statements are true the third is:

1. true

2. false

3. uncertain

The correct answer is: false

To determine the accuracy of the statements, let's break them down mathematically. Let’s denote the amount of money Barry has as \( B \) (in cents). According to the first statement, Barbara has five more nickels than Barry. Since a nickel is worth 5 cents, Barbara would then have \( B + 5 \times 5 = B + 25 \) cents. The second statement indicates that Jane has 15 cents less than Barbara. Therefore, the amount of money Jane has can be expressed as: \[ \text{Jane's money} = (B + 25) - 15 = B + 10 \] cents. Now we can compare the amounts: we have Barry with \( B \) cents, and Jane with \( B + 10 \) cents. From this, we can see that Jane actually has more money than Barry because: \[ B + 10 > B \] This indicates that Jane has more than Barry, which contradicts the condition that "Barry has more money than Jane." Thus, the conclusion derived from the first two statements shows that the third statement is indeed false. Therefore, the correct logical assessment is that Barry does not have more money than Jane, making the third