Question

jane and maria can clean the house in 2hours if they work together the time that jane takes in cleaning the house alone is 3hours more than the time of maria takes in cleaning the same house. how long does it take jane to clean the house alone how about maria

Answer 1

Let x = number of hours Maria works. Then x + 3 = number of hours Jane works.

1/x + 1/(x + 3) = 1/2

2(x + 3) + 2x = x(x + 3)

2x + 6 + 2x = x² + 3x

x² - x - 6 = 0

(x - 3)(x + 2) = 0

x = 3 (x = -2 will not work here)

Maria: 3 hours

Jane: 6 hours