Pete and Pam are planning to paint a house together. Pete thinks it would take him 2 times as long as it would take Pam to paint the entire house. Working together, they can complete the job in 18 hours. How long will it take each of them, working alone to complete the job?
+129849 Call Pam's rate 1 / x where x is the hrs Pam takes by herself
Call Pete's rate 1 / (2x) where 2x is the hrs Pete takes by himself
Rate * time = whole job done ....so...
(1/x)((18) + 1/ (2x) * 18 = 1
18/x + 18/ (2x) = 1
18/x + 9/x = 1
[ 18 + 9 ] / x = 1
27 = x = no. of hours that Pam takes by herself
2(x) = 2(27) = 54 = no. of hours that Pete takes by himself
