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Bunuel
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HarryStamper
Hi Bunuel - do we assume that Tom is not stopping in between or at City B?

As the OA is A, we are making this assumption. But shouldn't the question make this clear?

Bunuel
Tom is travelling from city A to city B to city C. From city A to city B, he travelled at the rate of 160 km per hour, and from city A to city B, he travelled the distance that is twice of the distance he travelled from city B to city C. What is the average speed rate from city A to city C in total?

(1) Tom travelled from city B to city C at the rate of 100 km per hour.
(2) The total distance from city A to city C is 600 km.
In GMAT sums or general in these types of cases we don't assume he might have stopped at B until it is mentioned in the sums. It is just like when we write 1 we know it is positive 1 and not negative 1.

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How come we do not need to know the distance between A and B and B and C in order to find the average speed? Isn't the formula for average speed: Total Distance/Total Time?

Thank you.
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How come we do not need to know the distance between A and B and B and C in order to find the average speed? Isn't the formula for average speed: Total Distance/Total Time?

Thank you.

You can use 2x (A -> B) and x (B -> C) to represent the distance traveled, we are given the ratio of distances in the stem.
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A is sufficient because when you calculate time you will have x incorporated. Therefore, when you calculate total distance over total time, x will cancel out leaving you with an avg rate.
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Bunuel
Tom is travelling from city A to city B to city C. From city A to city B, he travelled at the rate of 160 km per hour, and from city A to city B, he travelled the distance that is twice of the distance he travelled from city B to city C. What is the average speed rate from city A to city C in total?

(1) Tom travelled from city B to city C at the rate of 100 km per hour.
(2) The total distance from city A to city C is 600 km.


A-----------------B----------------C
Speed 160km/h..............x
Distance 2d....................d

Average Speed = Total Distance/ Total time taken
= (2d+d)/ [(2d/160) + (d/x)]
(Note: why 2d/160 and d/x? We know time = distance/speed, So the respective time taken would be = 2d/160 from A-B and d/x from B to C)
= 480x/(2x+160). (d gets cancelled out).
So we need the value of x, the speed from B-C, so only Statement 1 is sufficient.
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Bunuel
Tom is travelling from city A to city B to city C. From city A to city B, he travelled at the rate of 160 km per hour, and from city A to city B, he travelled the distance that is twice of the distance he travelled from city B to city C. What is the average speed rate from city A to city C in total?

(1) Tom travelled from city B to city C at the rate of 100 km per hour.
(2) The total distance from city A to city C is 600 km.

are we sure A is correct?

the average speed from one point to another is the (distance between the two points) divided by (the total time it took to travel the two points).

In no mention in the question does it say that A to B to C is linear. For all we know, A - B - C can form a triangle.

In order to determine the avg speed from A to C, we need to know the shortest distance between A and C and the total time it took to get from A to C (this includes the time Tom travelled from A to B and B to C).

Had the question asked "what is the average speed of the total trip", then we could have used to distance of 3d to determine the average speed of the trip.


Answer should be C - 1 & 2 together sufficient
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Bunuel
Tom is travelling from city A to city B to city C. From city A to city B, he travelled at the rate of 160 km per hour, and from city A to city B, he travelled the distance that is twice of the distance he travelled from city B to city C. What is the average speed rate from city A to city C in total?

(1) Tom travelled from city B to city C at the rate of 100 km per hour.
(2) The total distance from city A to city C is 600 km.

From A to B:

rate = 160, distance = 2d, and time = distance/rate = 2d/160

From B to C:

rate = x, distance = d, and time = d/x

Since average speed = total distance/total time, we need to answer the question:

average speed = (2d +d)/(2d/160 + d/x) = ?

Statement One Alone:

=> Tom travelled from city B to city C at the rate of 100 km per hour.

x = 100

average speed = (3d)/(2d/160 + d/100) = 3/(2/160 + 1/100)

Statement one is sufficient. Eliminate answer choices B, C, and E.

Statement Two Alone:

=> The total distance from city A to city C is 600 km.

3d = 600

d = 200

average speed = (600)/(400/160 + 200/x)

Clearly, we can’t determine the average speed. Statement two is not sufficient.

Answer: A
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