SOLUTION: Two bricklayers, Sam and Joe, are working on your house. Sam can complete the work in 5 hours, while Joe can complete the work in 3 hours. How many hours does the bricklaying take

Question 868943: Two bricklayers, Sam and Joe, are working on your house. Sam can complete the work in 5 hours, while Joe can complete the work in 3 hours. How many hours does the bricklaying take if they work together?
Found 2 solutions by stanbon, checkley79:
Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Sam can complete the work in 5 hours, while Joe can complete the work in 3 hours. How many hours does the bricklaying take if they work together?
--------------------
Sam rate = 1/5 job/hr
Joe rate = 1/3 job/hr
together rate = 1/x job/hr
-------------------------------
Equation:
rate + rate = together rate
1/5 + 1/3 = 1/x
------
3x + 5x = 15
8x = 15
x = 15/8 = 1 7/8 hrs (time to do the job together)
==================
Cheers,
Stan H.
Answer by checkley79(3341) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
1/5+1/3=1/x
(3+5)/3*5=1/x
8/15=1/x
8x=15
x=15/8
x=1.875 hours ans.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Two painters, Joe and Sam, will paint a house working together. Working alone, Joe can... (answered by stanbon,richwmiller,MathTherapy)
sam and joe are house painters.sam makes $5 an hour less than joe. on a job that took... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)
If Joe can paint a house in 6 hours and Sam can paint the same house in 8 hours how long (answered by math_helper,Alan3354,greenestamps)
Jerry and Sam are laying a hardwood floor. Working alone, Jerry can do the job in 20... (answered by josmiceli)
Mike, Joe, and Bill are painting a fence. The painting can be finished if Mike and Joe... (answered by ptaylor)
Mike, Joe and Bill are painting a fence. The painting can be finished if Mike and Joe... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)
Frank can complete a job in 5 hours. Joe can do it in 8 hours. After Frank had worked for (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)
Sam and Bob both repair machines. Sam can repair one machine 5 hours faster than Bob can (answered by ptaylor)
It takes Joe x hours to do a job. What part of the job can he do in 1 hour? Jane takes (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)