SOLUTION: Four employees were asked to stack 320 boxes of materials. After stacking 120 boxes in 1 hour, the were joined by another worker who helped stack the remaining boxes. How long wi

Question 134391: Four employees were asked to stack 320 boxes of materials. After stacking 120 boxes in 1 hour, the were joined by another worker who helped stack the remaining boxes. How long will it take the new group to finish stacking the remaining 200 boxes, if they continue to work at their same rate?

PLEASE NOTE: I know the solution to this problem. However, I've been following the techniques used so far for "work/rate" problems that many of the tutors here fully lay out and explain, and I've done well using these techniques, but I cannot seem to apply any here, and instead I have to solve the problem the old fashion way, which calls for more logical thinking than simply formulating a quick equation. My question is, is there a simple EQUATION for this problem? (ex: 1/4 + 1/x = 1/2 ~ john and tom working together, where john's time is 4 hours and tom's is unknown.) Thank you in advance.
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Four employees were asked to stack 320 boxes of materials. After stacking 120 boxes in 1 hour, the were joined by another worker who helped stack the remaining boxes. How long will it take the new group to finish stacking the remaining 200 boxes, if they continue to work at their same rate?
:
Wouldn't this be the simplest way?
:
4 men, 120 boxes in 1 hr = 30 boxes per man per hour
:
How long (t) for 5 men to stack 200 boxes?
:
5*30*t = 200
150t = 200
t = 200/150 = 4/3 hrs = 1 hr 20 min

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