Calculate the distance

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 133
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:43 am
Thanked: 12 times

Calculate the distance

by raju232007 » Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:02 pm
Two people walked the same distance,one person's speed is between 25 and 45 and he used 4 hrs,the speed of the other person is between 45 and 60 and he used 2 hours.Compute the distance?
A.116
B.118
C.124
D.136
E.140


In this problem both A and B are the possible solutions...But which is the right one?

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 315
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:43 pm
Thanked: 23 times

by Suyog » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:01 am
one person's speed is between 25 and 45 and he used 4 hrs,the speed of the other person is between 45 and 60 and he used 2 hours

This tells us that the speed of the second person is twice that of first.

possible combination are:

26 52
27 54
28 56
29 58

Distance traveled will be 26*4 or 52*2

If u go on calculating
for the pair 29, 58 the distance is 116 and only option

choose(a)

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2621
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:17 am
Location: Montreal
Thanked: 1090 times
Followed by:355 members
GMAT Score:780

Re: Calculate the distance

by Ian Stewart » Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:05 am
raju232007 wrote:Two people walked the same distance,one person's speed is between 25 and 45 and he used 4 hrs,the speed of the other person is between 45 and 60 and he used 2 hours.Compute the distance?
A.116
B.118
C.124
D.136
E.140


In this problem both A and B are the possible solutions...But which is the right one?
They are both right, as you point out, so this is not a well-designed question. Any answer choice between 100 and 120 would be a correct answer here. Suyog- you have assumed that the speeds are integers, and there is nothing in the question that says that the speeds need to be integers, which is why you didn't get 118 as a possible answer; the speeds could be 29.5 and 59.

Where is the question from?