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Jim Travels the First 3 Hours of His Journey at 60 mph Speed GMAT Problem Solving

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Question: Jim travels the first 3 hours of his journey at 60 mph speed and the remaining 5 hours at 24 mph speed. What is the average speed of Jim's travel in mph?

  1. 36 mph
  2. 37.5 mph
  3. 42 mph
  4. 42.5 mph
  5. 48 mph

Correct Answer: B

Solution and Explanation:

Approach Solution 1:

First of all the speed cannot just be added up and divided by the total hours. The total combined time and total distance for the trip needs to be found first.

Therefore, it is helpful to refer to the table above.

Since the total distance is 300 miles and the total amount of hours is 8, one can solve for the average speed
300/8= 37.5mph

Approach Solution 2:
Average speed= Total distance/Total time.

Total distance travelled by Jim= Distance covered in the first 3 hours + Distance covered in the next 5 hours.

Distance covered in the first 3 hours= 3*60= 180 miles

Distance covered in the next 5 hours= 5 *24 = 120 miles

Therefore, total distance travelled= 180+120= 300 miles.

Total time taken= 3+5= 8 hours.

Average speed= 300/8= 37.5 mph.

Approach Solution 3:
Finding Distance Travelled in first 3 hrs at the speed of 60 mph :
As we know that:
(Distance: Speed*Time)

Here , Speed is 60 mph & Time is 3 hrs.
Now by substituting the given values
Distance= 60*3
Distance= 180

Therefore, distance travelled in first 3 hrs is 180

Finding Distance Travelled in remaining 5 hrs at the speed of 24 mph:

As we know that:
(Distance: speed*time)
Here, Speed is 24 mph & Time is 5 hrs.

Now by substituting the given values

Distance= 24*5
Distance= 120
Therefore, distance travelled in remaining 8 hrs is 120

Now, Finding Average Speed:

As we know that:
(Average speed: total distance travelled/total time taken)
Here, Total Distance Travelled = Distance Travelled in first 3 hrs + Distance Travelled in remaining 5 hrs .

⠀⠀⠀⠀Total Distance Travelled = 120 km + 180 km
          Total Distance Covered in journey = 300 km

&

⠀⠀⠀⠀Total Time Taken = 3 hrs + 5 hrs
          Total Time Taken = 8 hrs .

Now by substituting the given values
Average speed= 300/8

Hence, the average speed of Jim’s travel is 37.5 mph

“Jim travels the first 3 hours of his journey at 60 mph speed and the”- is a topic of the GMAT Quantitative reasoning section of GMAT. To solve GMAT Problem Solving questions a student must have knowledge about a good amount of qualitative skills. GMAT Quant practice papers improve the mathematical knowledge of the candidates as it represents multiple sorts of quantitative problems.

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