Question 943827
the ratio of the number of hours susan worked to the number of hours jim worked is 8:5.


this means that, for every 13 hours that they both worked, susan worked 8 of them and jim worked 5 of them.


if we assume that they both worked a total of 13 hours, and if we let x equal to amount of money they made per hour, then the equation would become:
13x = 65.


divide both sides of this equation by 13 and you get:


x = 5 dollars per hour.


since susan worked 8 hours, she makes 40 dollars and jim makes 25 dollars.


the problem is a little tricky because they don't tell you the total amount of hours that they both worked, but you will get the same answer regardless.


for example:


assume they took a total of 26 hours to do the job.


65 / 26 = 2.50 per hour.


since the ratio is still 8 hours for susan to 5 hours for jim for every 13 hours that they both worked, this means that susan worked 16 hours and jim worked 10 hours.


16 * 2.50 = 40 dollars
10 * 2.50 = 25 dollars.


the answer is the same no matter how many hours they worked to finish the job.