Gardening (1)
Myra takes 2 hours to plant 50 flower bulbs. Francis takes 3 hours to plant 45
flower bulbs. Working together, how long should it take them to plant 150
bulbs?
𝟓𝟎 𝟒𝟓 𝟏𝟓𝟎
+
=
𝟐
𝟑
𝒙
Painting (2)
Joe and John are planning to paint a house together. John thinks that if he
worked alone, it would take him 3 times as long as it would take Joe to paint
the entire house. Working together, they can complete the job in 24 hours.
How long would it take each of them, working alone, to complete the job?
𝟏 𝟏
𝟏
+
=
𝒙 𝟑𝒙 𝟐𝟒
Painting (1)
Suppose one painter can paint the entire house in twelve hours, and the second
painter takes eight hours. How long would it take the two painters together to
paint the house?
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
+ =
𝟏𝟐 𝟖 𝒕
Painting (3)
Working together, Bill and Tom painted a fence in 8 hours. Last year, Tom
painted the fence by himself. The year before, Bill painted it by himself, but
took 12 hours less than Tom took. How long did Bill and Tom take, when each
was painting alone?
𝟏
𝟏
𝟏
+
=
𝒃 𝒃 + 𝟏𝟐 𝟖
Pool Filling (2)
One pipe can fill a pool 1.25 times faster than a second pipe. When both pipes
are opened, they fill the pool in five hours. How long would it take to fill the
pool if only the slower pipe is used?
𝟏
𝟏
𝟏
+
=
𝒇 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓𝒇 𝟓
Tub Filling (1)
When the tub faucet is on full, it can fill the tub to overflowing in 20 minutes
(we'll ignore the existence of the overflow drain). The drain can empty the tub
in 15 minutes. Your four-year-old has managed to turn the faucet on full, and
the drain was closed. Just as the tub starts to overflow, you run in and discover
the mess. You grab the faucet handle, and it comes off in your hand, leaving
the water running at full power. You yank the drain open, and run for towels
to clean up the overflow. How long will it take for the tub to empty, with the
faucet still on but the drain now open?
𝟏
𝟏
𝟏
−
=
𝟏𝟓 𝟐𝟎 𝒕
Mechanics (1)
Two mechanics were working on your car. One can complete the given job in
six hours, but the new guy takes eight hours. If they work together, how long
will it to finish your car?
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
+ =
𝟔 𝟖 𝒕
Water Travel (3)
Garth can row 5 miles per hour in still water. It takes him as long to row 4
miles upstream as 16 miles downstream. How fast is the current?
𝟒
𝟏𝟔
=
𝟓 − 𝒄 𝟓 + 𝒄
Vacation Travel (3)
Susan drove 1500 miles to Daytona Beach for spring break. On the way back
she averaged 10 miles per hour less, and the drive back took her 5 hours
longer. Find Susan’s average speed on the way to Daytona Beach.
𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎
−
=𝟓
𝒙 − 𝟏𝟎
𝒙
Electrical Circuits (1)
In a parallel circuit, the sum of the reciprocal resistances of each parallel
portion adds to the reciprocal resistance of the whole circuit. Thus, if the
resistance is 20 ohms and 50 ohms, how much is the resistance of the whole
circuit?
𝟏
𝟏
𝟏
+
=
𝟐𝟎 𝟓𝟎 𝒙
Nursing Rate Problem (2)
You need to create a 10 mg/mL solution of some medicine that is currently 12
mg/mL solution. You withdraw 5 mL of the solution to water down with saline
solution. Solve for the amount of saline solution you need to add to get the
target concentration.
𝟔𝟎
= 𝟏𝟎
𝒙+𝟓