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Speed, Distance.

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by Aishwarya1204 » Sat Oct 20, 2012 5:32 am
How long did it take Betty to drive nonstop on a trip from her home to Denver. Colorado?

1) If Betty's avg speed for the trip had been 1.5 times as fast, the trip would have taken 2 hours.

2) Betty's avg speed for the trip was 50 miles per hour.
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Source: — Data Sufficiency |

by anuprajan5 » Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:11 am
Answer is A

Statement 1

Assume speed is s and time is d

s*t = 1.5s*2

Sufficient

Statement 2

It does not say anything about distance. So cannot solve for time.

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ANup
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:12 am
Rate = Distance/Time, but the key here is that Rate and time are inversely related.

1) If you go 1.5 (3/2) times as fast the trip will take you 2/3 the time. Thus, 2 is 2/3 of the original time or 3

2) Not much here.

A.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:49 am
Aishwarya1204 wrote:How long did it take Betty to drive nonstop on a trip from her home to Denver. Colorado?

1) If Betty's avg speed for the trip had been 1.5 times as fast, the trip would have taken 2 hours.

2) Betty's avg speed for the trip was 50 miles per hour.
Jim's explanation regarding rate and time being inversely related, is great (as usual). I'll just add a bit of algebra to the mix.

Target question: What was Betty's travel time?

Let D = The distance driven
Let R = Betty's average speed

Since Time = Distance/Rate, we can re[phrase the target question. . .

Rephrased target question: What is the value of D/R?

Statement 1: If Betty's avg speed for the trip had been 1.5 times as fast, the trip would have taken 2 hours.
The distance is still the same (D), but the rate is 1.5R
So, statement 1 tells us that D/1.5R = 2
Is this enough information to find the value of D/R?
Sure, just take the equation D/1.5R = 2 and multiply both sides by 1.5 to get D/R = 3
Since we're able to answer the rephrased target question with certainty, statement 1 is SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: Betty's avg speed for the trip was 50 miles per hour.
This tells us that R=50
However, we cannot find the value of D/R, since we don't know the value of D (distance)
So, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer = A

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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