Problema Solution

A and B began a certain job on monday and the work was to be completed on tuesday. On monday, A worked for 10 hours and B worked for 8 hours and one-half of the job was done. On tuesday, A had to stop working after only 5 hours, and B had to work a total of 12 hours to complete a job. How long would it have taken each person to do the whole job?

Answer provided by our tutors

We will use the general equation d=rt (where d=job=rate*time). Since A and B are working together to get 1 job done, we can write:


Job=(rate A)(Time A)+(rate B)(Time B)


From the question, we know:

For Monday:

TimeA= 10

TimeB= 8

Job=1/2


For Tuesday:

TimeA=5

TimeB=12

Job=1/2


Therefore, we can write:

1/2=10A+8B

1/2=5A+12B


Using Algebrator to solve for A and B, we get:

A=1/40 job/hour

B=1/32 job/hour


These are the rates of each A and B. Therefore, it would take A 40 hours to finish the whole job and it would have taken B 32 hours.