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This is an easy question on the concept of Average speed.

Average Speed = \(\frac{Total Distance travelled }{ Total time taken}\).

Joe drives 120 miles at 60 mph. Therefore, time taken by Joe = \(\frac{120}{60}\) = 2 hours.

He drives the next 120 miles at 40 mph. Therefore, time taken by Joe = \(\frac{120}{40}\) = 3 hours.

Total distance travelled by Joe = 120 + 120 = 240 miles and
Total time taken = 2 + 3 hours.

Average speed = \(\frac{240 }{ 5}\) = 48 mph.

The correct answer option is B.

Alternatively, since the distance travelled in both the cases is the same,

Average speed = \(\frac{2 * 60 * 40 }{ (60+40)}\) = \(\frac{4800 }{ 100 }\)= 48 mph.

If the same distance is travelled at ‘x’ mph and at ‘y’ mph,

Average speed =\( \frac{2xy }{ x+y}\)

Hope that helps!
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Joe drives 120 miles at 60 miles per hour, then drives another 120 miles at 40 miles per hour, and the question asks for his average speed for the entire trip. The answer choices provided are 42, 48, 50, 54, and 56. To find the average speed, calculate total distance (120 + 120 = 240 miles) and total time: first leg takes 2 hours (120 ÷ 60), second leg takes 3 hours (120 ÷ 40), so total time is 5 hours. Average speed equals total distance divided by total time: 240 ÷ 5 = 48 miles per hour, so the correct answer is 48.
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