Hi All,
We're told that Cars J and K are making the trip from City A to City B. Car J departs from City A 15 minutes AFTER Car K does, both cars travel along the same route and Car K travels at a constant speed that is 80% the constant speed of Car J. We're asked for the number of MINUTES that will elapse before Car J catches up to Car K. This question can be solved rather easily by TESTing VALUES.
To start, we need two values - for the two speeds - in which one value is 80% of the other. You might immediately think about 80 and 100, but you could save some 'math time' if you use 8 and 10, or even 4 and 5. Since the question is based in MINUTES, we should set the speed in miles/minute.
Car J = 5 miles/minute
Car K = 4 miles/minute
Since Car K has a 15-minute "head start", it travels (15)(4) = 60 miles before Car J gets moving.
Each minute after that, Car J will travel 5 miles and Car K will travel 4 miles, so Car J will "catch up" 1 mile/minute.
With a 60 mile lead, Car J will need 60/1 = 60 minutes to catch Car K.
Final Answer: C
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
