SOLUTION: Andre and Eric have a home improvement business. They get a job to paint Mrs. Stover's living room. Andre can paint a room in 4 hours and Eric can paint a room in 12 hours. They de

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Misc -> SOLUTION: Andre and Eric have a home improvement business. They get a job to paint Mrs. Stover's living room. Andre can paint a room in 4 hours and Eric can paint a room in 12 hours. They de      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 37655: Andre and Eric have a home improvement business. They get a job to paint Mrs. Stover's living room. Andre can paint a room in 4 hours and Eric can paint a room in 12 hours. They decided to paint together to save time. How long does it take for the two of them to paint the room?
Answer by junior403(76) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Andre and Eric have a home improvement business. They get a job to paint Mrs. Stover's living room. Andre can paint a room in 4 hours and Eric can paint a room in 12 hours. They decided to paint together to save time. How long does it take for the two of them to paint the room?
Let x = the time it would take the two to work together.
If andre can do the job in 4 hrs. then in one hour he can do 1/4 of the job.
If eric can do the job in 12 hrs. then in one hour he can do 1/12 of the job.
So together, if it takes x hours to do the entire job we show that as...
1/4x + 1/12x = 1 complete job.
Find LCD = 12
12(1/4x + 1/12x) = 12(1)
Multiply...
3x + x = 12
Add like terms...
4x = 12
Divide by 4...
x = 3
Andre and Eric can do the job together in 3 hrs.
Good Luck!
Thanks for the question!