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Jenna and Luciana, working together, can paint the exterior of a house in 10 days. Jenna by herself can complete the job in 14 days less than Luciana. How long will it take Jenna to complete the job by herself? Give your answer to the nearest hour.​

User Moreira
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Let's assume that Luciana's time to complete the job alone is "L" days. Then, Jenna's time to complete the job alone is "L - 14" days (14 days less than Luciana).

The combined work rate of Jenna and Luciana is 1/10 (one house per 10 days), so we can write the following equation:

1/L + 1/(L-14) = 1/10

Multiplying both sides by the least common multiple of the denominators (10L(L-14)), we get:

10(L-14) + 10L = L(L-14)

Expanding and simplifying:

20L - 140 = L^2 - 14L

Bringing all the terms to one side:

L^2 - 34L + 140 = 0

Using the quadratic formula:

L = (34 ± sqrt(34^2 - 41140)) / 2*1

L = (34 ± 12) / 2

L = 23 or 11

Since Luciana can't complete the job in less time than Jenna (L-14 must be greater than 0), we discard the solution L=11. Therefore, Luciana takes 23 days to complete the job alone, and Jenna takes 9 days (L-14) to complete the job alone.

Therefore, it would take Jenna approximately 9 hours to complete the job by herself
User Vlad Poltorin
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