Question

Maya reads 1/8 of a newspaper in 1/20 of a minute. How many minutes does she need to read an entire paper?

Answer 1

8/20 of a minute or 2/5 of a minute

Answer 2

`(2)/(5)\text{ minutes}`

Explanation:

Given,

Maya reads 1/8 of a newspaper in 1/20 of a minute.

So, the ratio of the part of paper and time =
`(1/8)/(1/20)`

`=(20)/(8)`

Now, let x be the time taken in minutes to read the entire paper ( i.e. 1 part of the paper )

So, the ratio of part of paper and time =
`(1)/(x)`

`\implies (20)/(8)=(1)/(x)`

By cross multiplication,

20x = 8

Dividing both sides by 20,

`x=(8)/(20)=(2)/(5)`

Hence, the time taken to read the entire page would be
`(2)/(5)` minutes.