Module · Arithmetic & Number Properties
Chapter 8: Rates, Work & Speed
Arithmetic
4 topics
What this chapter covers
The 4 topics below make up Rates, Work & Speed on the GRE. Click any topic to open its notes, examples and practice test.
Study material & tests
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Notes, worked examples and hint-guided practice for every topic.
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🎯 Topic tests
8 auto-graded questions per topic, pulled from the question bank.
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📝 Chapter test
25 fresh mixed-difficulty questions, timed, with full solutions.
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Formula Reference Sheet
This chapter
The core rate relationship
| Rate equation | rate × time = amount (distance, work, cost…) |
|---|---|
| Speed | speed = distance / time |
| Time | time = distance / speed |
| Unit rate | amount ÷ number of units (per 1 unit) |
Averages & combined work
| Average speed | total distance / total time (NOT the average of the speeds) |
|---|---|
| Same distance each way | avg speed = 2ab / (a + b) (harmonic mean) |
| Combined rate | add the rates: 1/T = 1/a + 1/b |
| Two together | T = ab / (a + b) |
GRE reference
🖩 Graphing Calculator