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# During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles

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During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His [#permalink]  27 Jan 2006, 16:35
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During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His average speed on a certain 5-mile section of the expressway was 30 miles per hour, and his average speed for the remainder of the trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x-mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had traveled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip?

A. 8.5%
B. 50%
C. x/12%
D. 60/x%
E. 500/x%
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

Last edited by Bunuel on 21 Jul 2015, 23:59, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic, edited the question and added the OA.
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His [#permalink]  27 Jan 2006, 17:07
[5/30+((x-5)/60)-x/60]/(x/60)

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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His [#permalink]  27 Jan 2006, 19:41
total dist = x miles

time take to clear 5 mile section at 30miles/hr = 5/30 = 1/6 hr

time taken to clear x-5 miles section at 60 miles/hr = x-5/60 hr

Total time = 1/6 + x-5/60 = x+5/60 hr

Total time to clear x miles if he traveled at constant rate of 60 miles/hr = x/60 hr

Extra time = 5/60 = 1/12 hr

Percentage greater = (1/12)/(x/60) * 100% = 500/x %
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His [#permalink]  27 Jan 2006, 22:57
Total distance X miles

Time taken to travel distance X at 60 mph X/60 â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦..1

Time taken to travel distance X-5 at 30mph (X-5)/30 â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.2

Percentage of time taken with case2 compared to case 1.
( 1-2)/1. = 500%
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During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles [#permalink]  14 Aug 2006, 07:29
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During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His average speed on a certain 5-mile section of the expressway was 30 miles per hour, and his average speed for the remainder of the trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x-mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had traveled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip?

A. 8.5%
B. 50%
C. x/12%
D. 60/x%
E. 500/x%

Last edited by Bunuel on 07 Mar 2013, 04:20, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic, edited the question and added the OA.
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You were on the right track:

(x+5)/x = 1 + 5/x

So, increase as a ratio = 5/x
increase as percent = 500/x (%)

(E)
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v1rok wrote:
You were on the right track:

(x+5)/x = 1 + 5/x

So, increase as a ratio = 5/x
increase as percent = 500/x (%)

(E)

Thank you but I still can not catch it.

(x+5)/x = x/x +5/x = 1 + 5/x, but then were why we remove 1?
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The general formula for % increase of A over B is:

100%*(A-B)/B = 100%*(A/B-1) = 100%(A/B) - 100%
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During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  11 Dec 2010, 17:11
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During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on a certain 5 mile seciton was 30 miles per hour and his average speed of the remainder ofthe trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had travelled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip

A) 8.5 %
B) 50%
C) x/12%
D) 60/x%
E) 500/x%
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  11 Dec 2010, 19:37
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Yellow22 wrote:
During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on a certain 5 mile seciton was 30 miles per hour and his average speed of the remainder ofthe trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had travelled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip

A) 8.5 %
B) 50%
C) x/12%
D) 60/x%
E) 500/x%

Long word problem with a variable in the choices - perfect situation for picking numbers.

Let's let x=15 to keep things simple.

So, he drove 5 miles at 30mph and 10 miles at 60mph.

time = dist/rate, so he spent 5/30 + 10/60 = 1/6 + 1/6 = 1/3 of an hour = 20 minutes total.

If he had travelled at 60mph for the entire 15 miles, his time would have been 15/60 = 1/4 hour = 15 minutes.

The question is "His travel time for the x mile trip was what percent greater", so we use the percent change formula:

% change = (amount of change / original amount) * 100%

= (20-15)/15 * 100% = 5/15 * 100% = 1/3 * 100% = 33 1/3 %

Plugging x=15 into the choices:

A) 8.5 %... nope
B) 50%... nope
C) x/12%.... 5/4 of 1%... nope
D) 60/x%... 4%... nope.
E) 500/x%... 500/15 = 100/3 = 33 1/3.. yay! Choose (E).
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  22 Feb 2011, 14:28
Time when droven x miles in 60 mph $$t1$$= $$x/60$$
time when droven 5 miles in 30mph and x-5 miles in 60mph $$t2$$= $$5/30$$ + $$(x-5)/60$$ = $$(x+5)/60$$

Percentage increase =$$100$$*$$(t2 - t1)/t1$$ = $$100$$ * $$(x+5-x)/x$$= $$500/x$$ %
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Conclusion : GMAT is long journey.

What does the author assume ?
Assumption : A long journey is a long trip.

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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  22 Feb 2011, 14:49
I think the question should be:

During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on a certain 5 mile section was 30 miles per hour and his average speed of the remainder ofthe trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x mile trip was what percent smaller than it would have been if he had traveled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip

$$\frac{\frac{x}{60}-\frac{x-5}{60}}{\frac{x}{60}}*100 = \frac{500}{x}%$$

Ans: "E"
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  22 Feb 2011, 15:24
fluke wrote:
I think the question should be:

During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on a certain 5 mile section was 30 miles per hour and his average speed of the remainder ofthe trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had traveled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip

$$\frac{\frac{x}{60}-\frac{x-5}{60}}{\frac{x}{60}}*100 = \frac{500}{x}%$$

Ans: "E"

The question is correct. It will be greater only as the time increases if the speed decreases.

Note : Time to cross the 5 mile section increases if traveling at 30mph than at 60mph.
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  22 Feb 2011, 15:31
fluke wrote:
I think the question should be:

During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on a certain 5 mile section was 30 miles per hour and his average speed of the remainder ofthe trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had traveled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip

$$\frac{\frac{x}{60}-\frac{x-5}{60}}{\frac{x}{60}}*100 = \frac{500}{x}%$$

Ans: "E"

The question is correct. It will be greater only as the time increases if the speed decreases.

Note : Time to cross the 5 mile section increases if traveling at 30mph than at 60mph.

Agree!!! I was wrong in my interpretation. Thanks.
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  08 Mar 2011, 12:04
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove x miles.His average speed on [#permalink]  08 Mar 2011, 18:39
Let x = 15
5 miles @ 30 mph time = 1/6
10 miles @ 60 mph time = 1/6
Total time = 1/3
15 miles @ 60 mph, time = 1/4
% change
(1/3 - 1/4) /1/4 = 1/3 or 100/3% = 33.33%

500/x = 500/15 = 33.33%. Hence E
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x [#permalink]  07 Mar 2013, 04:13
Whats the answer for this question and the best strategy for this question is to plug numbers or solve algebrically?
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x [#permalink]  07 Mar 2013, 04:39
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fozzzy wrote:
Whats the answer for this question and the best strategy for this question is to plug numbers or solve algebrically?

During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles. His average speed on a certain 5-mile section of the expressway was 30 miles per hour, and his average speed for the remainder of the trip was 60 miles per hour. His travel time for the x-mile trip was what percent greater than it would have been if he had traveled at a constant rate of 60 miles per hour for the entire trip?

A. 8.5%
B. 50%
C. x/12%
D. 60/x%
E. 500/x%

For such questions I personally prefer plug in method. For this particular problem this method should give you the answer in less than a minute.

Say x = 5 miles (so no remainder of the trip).

Time to cover x = 5 miles at 30 miles per hour = (time) = (distance)/(rate) = 5/30 = 1/6 hours = 10 minutes.
Time to cover x = 5 miles at 60 miles per hour = (time) = (distance)/(rate) = 5/60 = 1/12 hours = 5 minutes.

(Or simply, half rate will result in doubling the time.)

So, we can see that the time to cover x = 5 miles at 30 miles per hour (10 minutes) is 100% greater than the time to cover x = 5 miles at 60 miles per hour (5 minutes).

Now, plug x = 5 miles into the answer choices to see which one yields 100%. Only answer E works.

Hope it's clear.
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles [#permalink]  09 Mar 2013, 14:02
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I assumed x=10

time taken for 5 miles at 30mph = 10min
time taken for the remaining 5 miles at 60mph = 5min
total time taken to travel 10miles = 15min = T1

If travelled at 60mph constantly for the entire 10 miles then total time taken = 10min = T2

Percentage change in time = $$\frac{(T1-T2)}{T2}*100$$ = 50%

Now this is just one of the answers, it is supposed to change if the total distance changes, as 5 miles becomes different fraction of the total distance (so answer must contain the total distance x, thereby eliminating choice A & B).

By plugging in with answer choices to see which results in 50% will get the answer i.e E
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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles [#permalink]  26 Jun 2013, 00:07
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An alternative solution

Don’s time for 5 miles is $$\frac{5}{30}$$>> $$\frac{10}{60}$$

Don's time for X-5 miles is $$\frac{X-5}{60}$$

Total time is $$\frac{10}{60}$$ + $$\frac{X-5}{60}$$ >>$$\frac{5+x}{60}$$

to find percentage change $$\frac{{5+x-x}}{60}$$ divided by $$\frac{X}{60}$$ * 100

= $$\frac{500}{X}$$ %

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Re: During a trip on an expressway, Don drove a total of x miles   [#permalink] 26 Jun 2013, 00:07

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