Question

Medal to best answer. Max and Maggie have to clean the house. It takes Max 12 hours to clean the house, while Maggie can complete the task in 4 hours. Their sister says that it will take 3 hours to complete if they work together. Explain each step in solving this equation, and determine if the sister is correct or not.

Answer 1

(1/12)x + (1/4)x = 1

solve for x

Answer 2

48? @vocaloid

Answer 3

nope not even close lol

start by multiplying both sides by 12

Answer 4

haha i thought it sounded a little off. okay so does the 1/12 cancel out?

Answer 5

@vocaloid

Answer 6

wait aren't i supposed to find a common denominator?

Answer 7

x + 3x = 12
4x = 12
x = 3

Answer 8

yeah, you could find a common denominator if you wanted

it's just faster to multiply everything by 12 though

the 1/12 cancels out

what is (1/3)x * 12?

Answer 9

12/3 = 4

Answer 10

what is (1/4)x times 12?

Answer 11

( meant to say 1/4, not 1/3)

Answer 12

okay. it's 3 @vocaloid

Answer 13

don't forget the x

Answer 14

3x

Answer 15

so we have

3x + x = 12

what is x?

Answer 16

x + 3x = 12
4x = 12
x = 3

Answer 17

good, so x = 3

since x represents the number of hours, her sister is correct

Answer 18

Okay, so my answer sounds like this: Since x represents the number of hours, Max and Maggie's sister is correct. It will take both of them 3 hours to clean the house if they work together. First, make an equation. x + 3x = 12. Add the left portion together and you will get 4x = 12. Divide by four on both sides to isolate x and you will get x = 3. So, again it will take 3 hours for Maggie and Max to complete their work as their sister said.

Answer 19

not bad but I would start off with

(1/12)x + (1/4)x = 1

as your equation