Final answer:
Michelle and Ruby can fold 8 baskets of clothes in 108 minutes when working together. Their individual folding rates are added to determine the combined rate, and the total number of baskets is divided by this combined rate to find the time required.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how long it will take Michelle and Ruby to fold 8 baskets of clothes when working together, we need to first find out how many baskets each can fold per minute. Michelle folds 4 baskets in 54 minutes, so her rate is 4/54 baskets per minute. Ruby folds 4 baskets in 108 minutes, so her rate is 4/108 baskets per minute.
To find the combined rate, we add their rates: 4/54 + 4/108 = 8/108 (since 4/54 is the same as 8/108). Together they fold 8/108 baskets per minute. Finally, to calculate the time it would take for them to fold 8 baskets when working together, we divide the total number of baskets by their combined rate: 8 ÷ (8/108), which simplifies to 108 minutes.
Therefore, Michelle and Ruby will take 108 minutes to fold 8 baskets of clothes together.