Question

Fred's Fruit Stand has 252 pounds of fruit and sells 2 7/8 pounds per hour. Gary's grocery Store has 285 pounds of fruit and sells 3 1/3 pounds per hour. How many hours until they have the same amount of fruit left?

Answer 1

72.1 hours

Explanation:

Let the number of hours be represented as: x

Fred's Fruit Stand has 252 pounds of fruit and sells 2 7/8 pounds per hour.

Convert 2 7/8 pounds to decimal = 2.875pounds

Hence:

252 - 2.875x

Gary's grocery Store has 285 pounds of fruit and sells 3 1/3 pounds per hour.

Convert 3 1/3 pounds to decimal = 3.333 pounds

Hence:

285 - 3.333x

How many hours until they have the same amount of fruit left?

This calculated by equating both equation together

252 - 2.875x = 285 - 3.333x

Collect like terms

-2.875x + 3.333x = 285 - 252

0.458x = 33

x = 33 / 0.458

x = 72.052401747 hours

x ≈ 72.1 hours

They would have the same amount of fruit left after 72.1 hours