Final answer:
To determine the number of workers needed to complete the field preparation in 15 days instead of 24, we use the concept of inverse proportionality and calculate that 8 workers are required.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of how many workers are needed to finish preparing a large field in 15 days instead of 24 days by 5 workers is a problem of inverse proportionality. To solve this, we can set up a proportion where work done is constant: Number of workers × Number of days = constant. In this case, we have 5 workers taking 24 days, which gives us 5 × 24 = 120 worker-days. To find the number of workers needed for 15 days, we set up the equation x × 15 = 120, where x is the number of workers needed. Solving for x gives us x = 120 / 15, resulting in x = 8. Therefore, 8 workers of equal ability are needed to finish the field in 15 days.