Question

Jane can sand and refinish the hardwood floor in a certain room in 23 hours. Together with her co-worker, Alex, they can sand and refinish this room's floor in 14 hours. How many hours would it take Alex
working by himself to sand and refinish this floor?

Answer 1

Using the together rate, it is found that it would take Alex 35.8 hours to sand and refinish this floor.

What is the together rate?

• The together rate is the sum of each separate rate.

In this problem:

• Together rate: 1/14.

• Jane's rate: 1/23.

• Alex's rate: 1/x.

Hence:

$\frac{1}{23} + \frac{1}{x} = \frac{1}{14}$

$\frac{x + 23}{23x} = \frac{1}{14}$

$23x = 14x + 322$

$9x = 322$

$x = \frac{322}{9}$

$x = 35.8$

It would take Alex 35.8 hours to sand and refinish this floor.

To learn more about the together rate, you can take a look at https://brainly.com/question/25159431