document.write( "Question 73619: If Steven can mix 20 drinks in 5 mins., Sue can mix 20 drinks in 10 mins., and Jack can mix 20 drinks in 15 mins, how much time will it take all 3 of them working together to mix the 20 drinks? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #52648 by bucky(2189)\"\" \"About 
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Steven mixes 20 drinks in 5 minutes. Therefore, he mixes 4 drinks per minute. (Get this by
\n" ); document.write( "dividing 5 into 20.)
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\n" ); document.write( "Sue mixes 20 drinks in 10 minutes. Therefore, she mixes 2 drinks per minute.
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\n" ); document.write( "Jack mixes 20 drinks in 15 minutes. Therefore, he mixes \"20%2F15+=+4%2F3\" drinks per minute.
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\n" ); document.write( "The problem implies that they all start mixing drinks at the same time. Therefore in mixing
\n" ); document.write( "drinks they all work the same time t. And we need to know when they reach 20 drinks total.
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\n" ); document.write( "In equation form we multiply their individual mixing rates by the time t to get:
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\n" ); document.write( "\"4%2At+%2B+2%2At+%2B+%284%2F3%29%2At+=+20\"
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\n" ); document.write( "Factor the t out on the left side:
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\n" ); document.write( "\"+%284+%2B+2+%2B%284%2F3%29%29%2At+=+20\"
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\n" ); document.write( "Putting all the numbers in the parentheses over the common denominator of 3 results in:
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\n" ); document.write( "\"%28%2812%2F3%29%2B+%286%2F3%29+%2B+%284%2F3%29%29%2At+=+20\"
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\n" ); document.write( "Combine all the fractions by adding their numerators and placing them over the common
\n" ); document.write( "denominator of 3 to get:
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\n" ); document.write( "\"%2822%2F3%29%2At+=+20\"
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\n" ); document.write( "Solve this problem by dividing both sides by \"22%2F3\". On the left side this just leaves
\n" ); document.write( "t. On the right side, recall the rule that dividing by a fraction is the same as multiplying
\n" ); document.write( "by its inverse. Therefore, the right side can be determined by multiplying:
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\n" ); document.write( "\"20+%2A+%283%2F22%29+=+%2860%2F22%29+=+%2830%2F11%29\"
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\n" ); document.write( "Take your calculator and divide 30 by ll to find that \"30%2F11+=+2.727\". So the answer
\n" ); document.write( "is \"t+=+2.727\"minutes. And 0.727 times 60 seconds is about 43.6 seconds. So the answer to
\n" ); document.write( "this problem is t = 2 minutes and 43.6 seconds.
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\n" ); document.write( "Hope this helps you to think your way through the problem.
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