Question

5. Beth can tile a floor in about 6 hours. When Beth and Mike worktogether they can tile a floor in about 2.4 hours. About how long wouldit take Mike to tile a floor if he works by himself?

Answer 1

From the information given we can say that the work of rate of Beth is 6h/floor. When they work together with Mike, we can represent the situation with the equation:

`(t)/(B)+(t)/(M)=1`

Where B is the rate of Beth and M is the rate of Mike, t is equal to 2.4 hours. Replacing the values we have:

`\begin{gathered} (2.4)/(6)+(2.4)/(M)=1 \\ 0.4\text{ }+(2.4)/(M)=1\text{ (Dividing)} \\ \text{ }(2.4)/(M)=1\text{ }-0.4\text{ (Transposing 0.4 to the other side of the equation)} \\ (2.4)/(M)=0.6(\text{ Subtracting)} \\ (2.4)/(0.6)=M\text{ (Isolating M)} \\ 4\text{ =M} \\ \text{Answer is: Mike takes 4 hours to tile a floor} \end{gathered}`