SOLUTION: The Starship Enterprise can transport all residents of earth to Vulcan in 5 years. If the Starship Excelsior assists the Enterprise in transporting all earth residents to Vulcan,

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Misc -> SOLUTION: The Starship Enterprise can transport all residents of earth to Vulcan in 5 years. If the Starship Excelsior assists the Enterprise in transporting all earth residents to Vulcan,      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


   



Question 1104556: The Starship Enterprise can transport all residents of earth to
Vulcan in 5 years. If the Starship Excelsior assists the Enterprise in
transporting all earth residents to Vulcan, they can complete this
mission in 4 years. How long would it take the Excelsior to transport all
residents of earth to Vulcan by itself?

Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The rate for Enterprise is
[ 1 mission ] / [ 5 yrs ]
Let the rate for Excelsior be
[ 1 mission ] / [ t yrs ]
Their rate transporting together is
[ 1 mission ] / [ 4 yrs ]
--------------------------------
Add their individual rates to get
thei rrate transporting together
+1%2F5+%2B+1%2Ft+=+1%2F4+
Multiply both sides by +20t+
+4t+%2B+20+=+5t+
+t+=+20+
Excelsior would take 20 years to
complete mission by itself