Question 25608: I am trying to help a homeschooled student with algebra. We are stumped on a problem. It's on a page where you are supposed to use the quadratic formula to solve but i'm having a hard time setting up the equation. It says; working alone Colleen can paint a house in 2 h less than James. Working together, they can paint the house in 10 h. How long would it take James to paint the house by himself? Thank you!
Found 2 solutions by elima, MathTherapy:
Answer by elima(1433)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Working alone Colleen can paint a house in 2 h less than James. Working together, they can paint the house in 10 h. How long would it take James to paint the house by himself?
Let x be the time it takes James to paint the house
So x-2 will be the time Colleen paints the house
so working together;
x+x-2=10
2x-2=10
2x=10+2
2x=12
x=6
So it takes Jmes 6 hrs, so then it takes Colleen;
6-2=4
=)
Answer by MathTherapy(10719)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I am trying to help a homeschooled student with algebra. We are stumped on a problem. It's on a page where
you are supposed to use the quadratic formula to solve but i'm having a hard time setting up the equation.
It says; working alone Colleen can paint a house in 2 h less than James. Working together, they can paint
the house in 10 h. How long would it take James to paint the house by himself? Thank you!
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The other person whu responded, says, "So it takes Jmes 6 hrs, so then it takes Colleen;
6-2=4 =)". NO!!! It DOESN'T!!
Let time it takes James, be J
Then time it takes Colleen = J - 2
With both taking 10 hours to do the job, working together, we get the following
equation: 
 ----- Multiplying by LCD, 10J(J - 2)
You now have your quadratic equation. I take it you know wnhat to do now, and after solving, correct? If
not, it’s that you MUST CHECK your solutions to ensure that they make sense, in this particular scenario.
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