SOLUTION: a painter bought 12 gallons of paint to paint two rooms. one room is twice the size of the other and requires 3 coats of paint. the smaller room requires only 2 coats. the client d

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Question 441932: a painter bought 12 gallons of paint to paint two rooms. one room is twice the size of the other and requires 3 coats of paint. the smaller room requires only 2 coats. the client decided not to paint the second room after all. how many gallons of paint will the painter have to return?
Answer by rwm(914) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
No idea because we aren't told how much paint is needed for one room nor the other nor both together. WE are only told how much paint the painter bought.
We are not told the relationship between amount bought and the amount needed.
Assuming that 12 gallons was the exact amount needed for the two rooms
we can say that
room one is 2x and needs 6x paint for 3 coats
room two is x and uses 2x paint for 2 coats
6x+2x=8x
8x=12
x=12/8=3/2
so room one needs 9 gallons
and room two needs 3 gallons
assuming that the room not painted is the smaller room (we are not told which room is the non painted room) the 3 gallons are returned.