Joe Drives 120 Miles at 60 Miles Per Hour, and Then He Drives GMAT Problem Solving

Question: Joe drives 120 miles at 60 miles per hour, and then he drives the next 120 miles at 40 miles per hour. What is the average speed for the entire trip in miles per hour?

1. 42
2. 48
3. 50
4. 54
5. 56

Answer:
Approach Solution (1):
As we know that:
Average speed = Total distance traveled / Total time taken
Joe drives 120 miles at 60 mph
Therefore, time taken by Joe =\({120\over60} = 2hours\)
He drives the next 120 miles at 40 mph. Therefore time taken by Joe =\({120\over40} = 3hours\)
Total distance traveled by Joe = 120 + 120 = 240 miles and
Total time taken = 2 + 3 hours
Average speed =\({240\over5} = 48mph\)

Correct option: B

Approach Solution (2):
Since the distance traveled in both cases is the same:
Average speed =\(\frac{2*60*40}{(60+40)}=\frac{4800}{100}=48mph\)
If the same distance traveled at ‘x’ mph and at ‘y’ mph
Then
Average speed =\(\frac{2xy}{(x+y)}\)

Correct option: B

Approach Solution (3):
\(t_1=\frac{120}{60}=2hours \\ t_2=\frac{120}{40}=3hours \\ T=t_1+t_2=5hours\)
Average speed = Total distance / T = \(\frac{120}{5}=48mph\)

Correct option: B

“Joe drives 120 miles at 60 miles per hour, and then he drive the next 120 miles at 40 miles per hour. What is the average speed for the entire trip in miles per hour?”- is a topic of the GMAT Quantitative reasoning section of GMAT. This question has been taken from the book “GMAT Official Guide Quantitative Review”. To solve GMAT Problem Solving questions a student must have knowledge about a good amount of qualitative skills. The GMAT Quant topic in the problem-solving part requires calculative mathematical problems that should be solved with proper mathematical knowledge.

Suggested GMAT Problem Solving Questions:

• Two Consultants, Mary and Jim, Can Type up a Report in 12.5 Hours and Edit it in 7.5 Hours. GMAT Problem Solving
• GMAT Problem Solving - The Price of Raw Materials Has Gone up by 15%
• Greg Assembles Units of a Certain Product at a Factory. GMAT Problem Solving
• After 6 Games, Team B Had an Average of 61.5 Points Per Game. GMAT Problem Solving
• If 10, 12 and ‘x’ are Sides of an Acute Angled Triangle, How Many Integer Values of ‘x’ are Possible? GMAT Problem Solving
• \(\frac{15^{11}-15^{10}}{14}=?\) GMAT Problem Solving
• For Any Four Digit Number, abcd, *abcd*= (3^a)(5^b)(7^c)(11^d) GMAT Problem Solving
• GMAT Problem Solving - Iqbal Dealt Some Cards to Mushtaq and himself from a Full Pack of Playing Cards
• A Rectangular Box has Dimensions 12*10*8 Inches GMAT Problem Solving
• √9+√80+√9−√80)2 GMAT Problem Solving
• What Is The Circumference Of The Semicircle In The Figure Shown? GMAT Problem Solving
• In a Trapezium ABCD, AB Is Parallel To DC, AB = 3*DC, And The Diagonals Of The Trapezium Intersect At O GMAT Problem Solving
• A Bag Contains 5 Red Balls And Some Blue Balls GMAT Problem Solving
• A Small Water Pump Would Take 2 Hours To Fill An Empty Tank GMAT Problem Solving
• ABCD Is An Isosceles Trapezium GMAT Problem Solving
• An Equilateral Triangle is Constructed on Each Side of a Square GMAT Problem Solving
• For A Negative Integer x, What Is The Value Of x * √(x^2)? GMAT Problem Solving
• Five Letters Are To Be Placed Into Five Addressed Envelopes GMAT Problem Solving
• Find The Number Of Trailing Zeros In The Product Of (1^1) GMAT Problem Solving
• Find The Altitude Of An Equilateral Triangle Whose Side is 20 GMAT Problem Solving
• Which of the following is the value of √3√0.000064? GMAT Problem Solving
• Two Dice are Thrown Simultaneously. What is the Probability of Getting Two Numbers Whose Product is Even? GMAT Problem Solving
• During a Trip, Francine Traveled x Percent of the Total Distance at an Average Speed of 40 Miles GMAT Problem Solving
• Which of the Following Expressions CANNOT have a Negative Value? GMAT Problem Solving
• Which of the following is greatest? GMAT Problem Solving
• The Cost Price of 20 Articles is The Same as The Selling Price of x Articles GMAT Problem Solving
• In The Figure Shown, If The Area of The Shaded Region is 3 Times The Area of The Smaller Circular Region GMAT Problem Solving
• A Regular Hexagon has a Perimeter of 30 units GMAT Problem Solving
• All the Numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are Assigned to the Six Faces of a Cube, One Number to Each Face GMAT Problem Solving
• If it is true that x > -2 and x < 7, which of the following must be true? GMAT Problem Solving
• In a Drawer, There are 4 White Socks, 3 Blue Socks, and 5 Grey Socks GMAT Problem Solving
• There are 100 Apples in a Bag of which 98% are Green and Rest are Red GMAT Problem Solving
• An Inlet Pipe can Fill in an Empty Cistern in 30 minutes GMAT Problem Solving
• A Zookeeper Counted the Heads of the Animals in a Zoo and Found it to be 80 GMAT Problem Solving
• A Shop Stores x kg of Rice. The First Customer Buys half this Amount Plus half a kg of Rice GMAT Problem Solving
• In a Class of 120 Students Numbered 1 to 120, All Even Numbered Students Opt for Physics GMAT Problem Solving
• Machine A Produces bolts at a Uniform Rate of 120 Every 40 seconds GMAT Problem Solving
• Out of 7 Consonants and 4 Vowels, How Many Words of 3 Consonants and 2 Vowels Can be Formed? GMAT Problem Solving
• 4 Bells Toll Together at 9:00 A.M. They Toll After 7, 8, 11 and 12 Seconds GMAT Problem Solving
• 12 Marbles are Selected at Random from a Large Collection of White, Red, Green and Yellow Marbles GMAT Problem Solving
• Find the greatest number that will divide 43, 91 and 183 GMAT Problem Solving
• Of the 150 Houses in a Certain Development GMAT Problem Solving
• A man can hit a target once in 4 shots. If he fires 4 shots in succession GMAT Problem Solving
• If 75 Percent of a Class Answered the First Question on a Certain Test Correctly GMAT Problem Solving
• A Clock Strikes 4 taking 9 seconds. GMAT Problem Solving
• What is the Largest Power of 3 Contained in 200! GMAT Problem Solving
• Find The Value Of x GMAT Problem Solving
• GMAT Problem Solving - Which of the following expressions has the greatest values?
• GMAT Problem Solving – If @ x=x^2/2x^2-2 , What is the Units Digit of @ (@4)?
• GMAT Problem Solving – What is the product of all possible solutions of the equation |x+2|- 5|x+2| = -6?