Question

Joselyn is a manager at a sign-painting company. She has two painters, Allen and Brianne. Allen can complete a large project in 16 hours. Brianne can complete the project in 18 hours. Joselyn wants to know how long it will take them to complete the project together.

Write an equation and solve for the time it takes Allen and Brianne to complete the project together. Explain each step.

Answer 1

Allen can take 16 hours, while
Brianne can take 18 hours;
Therefore, in 1 hour Allen will complete a fraction of 1/16, while
in 1 hour Brianne will complete a fraction of 1/18
When working together, in 1 hour they will complete a fraction of (1/18+1/16)
= 17/144,
Therefore; to complete the whole project working together, they will take;
144/17 = 8.47 hours