Question

A construction company needs to remove 2 5/6 tons of dirt from a construction site. They can remove 3/10 tons of dirt each hour. What is the total amount of hours it will take to remove the dirt?

Answer 1

Here is a generic way to set up this type of algebra problem.

d = total amount of dirt at the site (tons)

r = rate or removal (tons/hr)

t = time it takes to remove all of the dirt (hr)

d = rt

The total amount of dirt equals the removal rate times hours spent removing all the dirt.

Since you want to solve for t, divide both sides by r

t = d/r