Question

Mary and Jane are trying to set up their marmalade selling business. They started off by peeling the oranges. Mary peels 8 oranges in 10 minutes while Jane peels 3 oranges in 5 minutes. If they need to peel 500 oranges for their first batch of marmalade, how long (in hours) will it take them to finish peeling? (round off to nearest hr)

Answer 1

6.0 hours

Explanation:

1 hour is the same as 60 minutes.

"Mary peels 8 oranges in 10 minutes"

1 hour = 60 minutes = 6 * 10 minutes

In 1 hour, she peels 6 times as many oranges, so Mary peels 48 oranges in 1 hour.

"Jane peels 3 oranges in 5 minutes"

1 hour = 60 minutes = 12 * 5 minutes

In 1 hour, she peels 12 times as many oranges, so Jane peels 36 oranges in 1 hour.

Combined, the peel 48 + 36 = 84 oranges in 1 hour.

(500 oranges)/(84 oranges/hour) = 5.952 hours

Answer: 6.0 hours