Townsend to Smallville

[himanshu2727]

If a car traveled from Townsend to Smallville at an average speed of 40 mph and then returned to Townsend along the same route later that evening, what was the average speed for the entire trip?

(1) The trip from Townsend to Smallville took 50% longer than the trip from Smallville to Townsend.
(2) The route between Townsend and Smallville is 165 miles long.

This is a question of MGMAT. Answer given is A.

The explanation states that it doesn't matter if we don't have distance between the Townsend and Smallville. We can consider any value and we will get average speed.

Aren't we suppose to arrive at only 1 value? If we combine both (1) and (2), we satisfy condition and result is only one average speed. Please guide me on this.

[jnelson0612]

If a car traveled from Townsend to Smallville at an average speed of 40 mph and then returned to Townsend along the same route later that evening, what was the average speed for the entire trip?

(1) The trip from Townsend to Smallville took 50% longer than the trip from Smallville to Townsend.
(2) The route between Townsend and Smallville is 165 miles long.

This is a question of MGMAT. Answer given is A.

The explanation states that it doesn't matter if we don't have distance between the Townsend and Smallville. We can consider any value and we will get average speed.

Aren't we suppose to arrive at only 1 value? If we combine both (1) and (2), we satisfy condition and result is only one average speed. Please guide me on this.

Actually, you will get only one value using the information in A, no matter what distance you choose. Here's a link that explains how to do the math by using just the information from statement 1, but please let me know if you need further clarification. if-a-car-traveled-from-townsend-to-smallville-at-an-average-t677.html