Question

Mary can clean her apartment in 6 hours, while her roommate can clean the apartment in 5 hours. if they work together, how long would it take them to clean the apartment? round your answer to the nearest minute.

Answer 1

2 hours and 44 minutes.

Explanation:

In 1 hour, Mary can clean 1/6 of the apartment, while her roommate cleans 1/5 of the apartment. To represent both of them working together, you add both fractions : 1/5 + 1/6 = 11/30. To find out how long it would take, you divide 1 by 11/30. 1/1 ÷ 11/30 = 1/1 × 30/11 = 30/11 hours. Make the fraction a mixed number : 30/11 = 2 8/11. 8/11 ≈ 0.727. Multiply 0.727 with 60 minutes : 0.727 × 60 = 43.62 minutes. Round 43.62 : 44 minutes. Result : 2 hours and 44 minutes.