Final answer:
To find out how long it would take 15 bakers to bake 20 loaves, we need to use the concept of work rate. Setting up a proportion and solving for the unknown variable will give us the desired result.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out how long it would take 15 bakers to bake 20 loaves, we can use the concept of work rate. In this case, the work rate is the number of loaves baked per hour.
We know that 5 bakers can bake 20 loaves in 3 hours. So, their work rate is 20 loaves / 3 hours = 6.67 loaves per hour.
Since the number of bakers is directly proportional to the work rate, we can set up a proportion: 5 bakers / 6.67 loaves per hour = 15 bakers / x loaves per hour.
Solving for x will give us the time it takes for 15 bakers to bake 20 loaves. Cross-multiplying, we get: 5 * x = 15 * 6.67. Simplifying further, x = (15 * 6.67) / 5 = 20.01. So, it would take approximately 20 hours and 1 minute for 15 bakers to bake 20 loaves.