The Truth About Work Rates: GRE / GMAT (with official example!)

No formulas, no tables, no complex methods. Here is my way to tackle work rate questions on the GRE and GMAT. We will test this method on an official work rate question.

I am here to bring you good news. If you bear in mind 2 core truths, work rate isn’t that bad! In fact, it can be very fun!

First truth: When combining work rates you can’t add the ‘time’ we take, but you can add the ‘rate’ we go at.

Second Truth: Rates and Times are reciprocals of each other

This is a Numeric Entry question.

1. Working alone at its constant rate, machine A produces k liters of a chemical in 10 minutes. Working alone at its constant rate, machine B produces k liters of the chemical in 15 minutes. How many minutes does it take machines A and B, working simultaneously at their respective constant rates, to produce k liters of the chemical?

______  minutes

Extreme Question

Working alone at her constant rate, Danya takes 2 hours to paint 1/2 a wall. Working alone at her constant rate, Aurelie takes 3 hours to paint 2 walls of the same size. If Danya starts painting a wall on her own for 3 hours, and is then joined by Aurelie, for how many hours will Aurelie and Danya now have to work together to finish 3 walls? Write your answer as a fraction.

GRE work rates and GMAT work rates will be tested in a very similar way, so I have lumped them together.

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Enquiries: [email protected] If you’re now ready to get into your dream MBA program, my former student, Angel, is offering virtual private Admissions coaching. She was admitted into Harvard Business School, The Wharton School of Business, and Columbia Business School (accepted into every school she interviewed for) after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Communication. She also got 3 perfect scores on the GRE’s Analytical Writing Assessment (99th percentile).

Here is her link - https://linktr.ee/angel_accel - and you can reach her at [email protected] with the subject line, “PHILIP SENT ME.”