Problema Solution

it takes 4 times as long to paint a privacy fence uing an old fasoned brush as compared o the time it takes using a paint sprayer. bill, using a paint rush and bertha usng te paint sprayer begin working on their privacy fence at noon. After just one hour, the paint sprayer clogged and bertha had to take it back to the home improvement store to get a replacement. Bill continued to piant during the two hours she was gone. bertha resumed spraying as soon as she got back and after another two hours the fence was completely painted.how many hours wil it take bill to do the entire fence working by himselfthe whole time

Answer provided by our tutors

Let 'x' represent the number of hours Bill would be required when painting by hand.  His part is 1/(5x) but Bertha's portions are 4/x and 4/(2x) as she uses the paint sprayer for 1 hour followed by 2 hours.  The work is done in 5 hours, so how long would it take Bill to paint the fence without Bertha's help:

1/(5x)+4/x+4/(2x)=1/5

click here to solve for x

x=31

So it would take Bill 31 hours to paint the fence by himself when using an old-fashioned brush.