SOLUTION: If it took 8 labourers 28 days to dig a trench,how long will it take 6 labourers working at the same rate to dig the trench?

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Question 1014102: If it took 8 labourers 28 days to dig a trench,how long will it take 6 labourers working at the same rate to dig the trench?
Found 2 solutions by stanbon, Edwin McCravy:
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If it took 8 labourers 28 days to dig a trench,how long will it take 6 labourers working at the same rate to dig the trench?
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# of days and # of workers are inversely related::
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Equation:
d = k/w
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Solve for "k" using "8 laborers 28 days to dig.."
28 = k/8
k = 224
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Equation:
d = 224/w
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? how long for 6 workers ?
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d = 224/6 = 37 1/3
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Ans:: 38 after rounding up
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Cheers,
Stan H.
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Answer by Edwin McCravy(20060) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
There are two kinds of proportions, direct and inverse.

DIRECT proportion is when both quantities go up or down together.
INVERSE proportion is when one quantity goes up, the other goes down.

This is INVERSE proportion.

The more the number of workers, the less time it takes to do a job.
The less the number of workers, the more time it takes to do a job.

So when one goes up, the other goes down.  Like a see-saw.

It's "IS TO" or DIVISION in direct proportion, but it's "TIMES" 
or MULTIPLICATION in inverse proportion.

8 laborers TIMES 28 days = 6 laborers TIMES x days:

                    8*28 = 6*x

                     224 = 6x
                   224/6 = x
                  37 1/3 = x

It would take 6 soldiers 37 1/3 days.

Edwin