Answer: 44 hours
Explanation:
Setting up a simple equation will help us solve this (x represents Mary's hours):
![x + (x - 8) = Total Hours](https://img.qammunity.org/2023/formulas/mathematics/high-school/xkraz50vm761tn9yguy34yk1yoxf938adv.png)
We know this because we know that Jessica works 8 hours less than Mary, which we find by subtracting 8 from Mary's hours.
We then need to plug in Mary's hours:
![26 + (26 - 8) = 26 + 18 = 44](https://img.qammunity.org/2023/formulas/mathematics/high-school/xr8juxc4j2vqqw6zehrpkdl79v03fia0a4.png)
Hope this helped, if you need anything else explained please let me know.