Question

Farmer John can till his field 1.5 times faster than Farmer Bob. If they work together, they can till the field in 6 hours. How long would it take Farmer John on his own

Answer 1

It would take Farmer John 10 hours on his own to till his field.

Explanation:

Let;

J = Time spent by John alone

B = Time spent by Bob alone = 1.5 * J = 1.5J

Time spent by both = 6

Using reciprocal, time spent by John alone can be calculated as follows:

(1 / J) + (1 /1.5J) = 1 / 6

Multiply through by 6J and solve for J, we have:

(6J / J) + (6J / 1.5J) = 6J / 6

6 + (6 / 1.5) = J

J = 6 + 4 = 10

Therefore, it would take Farmer John 10 hours on his own to till his field.