Question

An office building has 30 employees and provides 42 square feet of work space per employee. If five more employees are hired, how much less work space, in square feet, do employees have?"

A) 120
B) 140
C) 160
D) 180

Answer 1

Each employee will have 140 square feet less work space if five more employees are hired in the office building.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question revolves around an office space problem where the current total area provides 42 square feet per employee for 30 employees. If five more employees are hired, we need to determine how much less work space each employee will have. Initially, the total work space is 30 employees × 42 square feet/employee = 1260 square feet. With the addition of five employees, the total becomes 35 employees. However, the overall area of the building, which is 140 feet by 100 feet = 14000 square feet, does not change. So, we still have 14000 square feet to be divided by 35 employees, resulting in 400 square feet/employee. We then find the difference in workspace per employee before and after the new hires: 1260 square feet / 30 employees – 14000 square feet / 35 employees = 140 square feet/employee. Therefore, each employee will have 140 square feet less space if five more employees are hired, which corresponds to option B) 140.