If Lucy walks to work at a rate of 4 miles per hour. . . .

[Vincen]

If Lucy walks to work at a rate of 4 miles per hour, but she walks home by the same route at a rate of 6 miles per hour, what is Lucy's average walking rate for the round trip?

A. 4.2 miles/hour
B. 4.4 miles/hour
C. 4.8 miles/hour
D. 5 miles/hour
E. 5.8 miles/hour

The OA is C.

How can I determine the solution here?

[Jay@ManhattanReview]

If Lucy walks to work at a rate of 4 miles per hour, but she walks home by the same route at a rate of 6 miles per hour, what is Lucy's average walking rate for the round trip?

A. 4.2 miles/hour
B. 4.4 miles/hour
C. 4.8 miles/hour
D. 5 miles/hour
E. 5.8 miles/hour

The OA is C.

How can I determine the solution here?

The average speed is not equal to the average of 4 and 6. We cannot take an arithmetic average.

Say the distance is 12 miles. I assumed the distance 12 miles since 12 is the LCM of 4 and 6.

Time taken while going to work = 12/4 = 3 hours;
Time taken while coming to home = 12/6 = 2 hours

Average speed = (Total distance) / (Total time) = (12 + 12) / (3 + 2) = 24/5 = 4.8 miles per hour

The correct answer: C

Hope this helps!

-Jay

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Hi Vincen,

Since this question gives us just the two rates to work with, we can solve it by TESTing VALUES.

The two speeds are 4 miles/hour and 6 miles/hour, so we should choose a common multiple of those two numbers for the one-way distance. Let's TEST 12 miles.

Walking to work:
D = (R)(T)
12mi. = (4 miles/hr)(X hours)
3 hours = X

Walking from work:
D = (R)(T)
12mi. = (6 miles/hr)(Y hours)
2 hours = Y

Total Distance = 12 + 12 = 24 miles
Total Time = 3 + 2 = 5 hours
Average Speed (round-trip) = 24/5 = 4.8 miles/hour

Final Answer: C

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[Scott@TargetTestPrep]

If Lucy walks to work at a rate of 4 miles per hour, but she walks home by the same route at a rate of 6 miles per hour, what is Lucy's average walking rate for the round trip?

A. 4.2 miles/hour
B. 4.4 miles/hour
C. 4.8 miles/hour
D. 5 miles/hour
E. 5.8 miles/hour

The OA is C.

How can I determine the solution here?

We can use the equation:

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

If we let distance each way = 12, we have:

Average = (12 + 12)/(12/4 + 12/6)

Average = 24/5 = 4.8 mph

Answer: C