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100 points for $49 worth of Veritas practice GMATs FREE VERITAS PRACTICE GMAT EXAMS Earn 10 Points Per Post Earn 10 Points Per Thanks Earn 10 Points Per Upvote ## Steve traveled the first 2 hours of his journey at 40 mph... tagged by: ceilidh.erickson ##### This topic has 3 expert replies and 0 member replies ### Top Member ## Steve traveled the first 2 hours of his journey at 40 mph... Steve traveled the first 2 hours of his journey at 40 mph and the last 3 hours of his journey at 80 mph. What is his average speed of travel for the entire journey? A. 53.33 mph B. 56.67 mph C. 60 mph D. 64 mph E. 66.67 mph The OA is D. I need help with this PS question. Can any expert explain it please? Thanks. ### GMAT/MBA Expert Legendary Member Joined 14 Jan 2015 Posted: 2667 messages Followed by: 122 members Upvotes: 1153 GMAT Score: 770 LUANDATO wrote: Steve traveled the first 2 hours of his journey at 40 mph and the last 3 hours of his journey at 80 mph. What is his average speed of travel for the entire journey? A. 53.33 mph B. 56.67 mph C. 60 mph D. 64 mph E. 66.67 mph The OA is D. I need help with this PS question. Can any expert explain it please? Thanks. Total time = 2 + 3 = 5 hours. Next, find the total distance First part of trip: 2*40 = 80 miles Second part of trip 3*80 = 240 miles Total Distance = 80 + 240 = 320 miles. Average Speed = Total Distance/Total Time = 320/5 = 64 The answer is D. . _________________ Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor Veritas Prep Reviews Save$100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

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### GMAT/MBA Expert

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David's explanation is perfect. It helps to remember on any of these questions that average rate is a WEIGHTED AVERAGE. If there are two legs of the journey at different rates, the overall rate will be weighted toward the one you spent more TIME doing.

In this problem, the simple average of 40mph and 80mph would be 60. Since Steve spent more time going 80mph, though, the right answer must be more than 60. Knowing that, we can quickly eliminate A, B, and C. If you then got stuck on solving, you'd have a 50/50 shot at guessing correctly between D and E.

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### GMAT/MBA Expert

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LUANDATO wrote:
Steve traveled the first 2 hours of his journey at 40 mph and the last 3 hours of his journey at 80 mph. What is his average speed of travel for the entire journey?

A. 53.33 mph
B. 56.67 mph
C. 60 mph
D. 64 mph
E. 66.67 mph
Steveâ€™s total distance was 2 x 40 + 3 x 80 = 80 + 240 = 320 miles.

We can now determine average speed:

Average speed = (total distance)/(total time)

Average speed = 320/5 = 64 mph.

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Jeffrey Miller
jeff@targettestprep.com

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