Problema Solution
Jack, Kay, and Lynn deliver advertising flyers in a small town. If each person works alone, it takes Jack 6 h to deliver all the flyers, and it takes Lynn 1 h longer than it takes Kay. Working together, they can deliver all the flyers in 50% of the time it takes Kay working alone. How long does it take Kay to deliver all the flyers alone?
Answer provided by our tutors
let
6 h is the time Jack takes to deliver all the flyers alone
x = the time Kay takes to deliver all the flyers alone (in hours), x>0
y = the time Lynn takes to deliver all the flyers alone (in hours), y>0
it takes Lynn 1 h longer than it takes Kay
y = x + 1
working together, they can deliver all the flyers in 50% of the time it takes Kay working alone that is 0.5*x
in 1 hour:
Jack will finish 1/6 of the job
Kay will finish 1/x of the job
Lynn will finish 1/y of the job
together they will finish 1/(0.5x) of the job
thus we can write
1/6 + 1/x + 1/y = 1/(0.5x)
by solving the system of equations
y = x + 1
1/6 + 1/x + 1/y = 1/(0.5x)
we find
x = 2 hours
y = 3 hours
we consider only the positive solutions since x>0 and y>0
Kay needs 2 hours to deliver all the flyers alone.