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Kate and Jean paint a house together in 6 days. If they work alone, Kate takes 5 fewer days than Jean would take to do the same job. Which equation represents the time it takes Kate to paint the house by herself?

A. x^2-7x-30=0
B. x^2-5x-30=0
C. 2x-1=0
D. x^2-5x over 6 = 0

User Bolu
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2 Answers

1 vote

Answer: x^2-7x-30=0

Step-by-step explanation: plato

User Kourosh Neyestani
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4 votes
Number of jobs=1

Time:
Since ‘x’ is given as a variable in the choices, we should reserve it for Kate and use ‘y’ for Jean as follows:

Kate: => x

Jean: => y

But y = x - 5

Combined rate:
1/x+ 1/y
= (x + y)/(xy)

Number of jobs done:

Number of days X combined rate = number of jobs

6 [(x + y)/(xy)] = 1
6x + 6y = xy
6x + 6(x - 5) = x(x - 5)
6x + 6x - 30 = x² - 5x
12x - 30 = x² - 5x
x² - 17x + 30 = 0

Therefore, the answer would be A.
User Brian Tingle
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