Question

Maggie and Elizabeth are both cleaning their rooms. It takes Elizabeth three times as long as Maggie to clean her room. If all together they spent six hours cleaning their rooms, how long did it take each girl

Answer 1

Answer: Maggie used 1 1/2 hours

Elizabeth used: 3 × 1 1/2 = 4 1/2 hours

Explanation:

Let the time used by Maggie be x

Since it It takes Elizabeth three times as long as Maggie to clean her room. Elizabeth will use: = 3 × x = 3x

Therefore, x + 3x = 6

4x = 6

x = 6/4 = 1.5 hours

Maggie used 1 1/2 hours

Elizabeth used: 3 × 1 1/2 = 4 1/2 hours