Word problem >:)?

Question

Joe and Jan can clean the garage in 5 hours. It takes Joe 8 hours to do the job alone. How long would it take Jan to do the job alone?

Answer 1

Jan + Joe takes 5 hrs.

Joe takes 8 hrs.

Jan takes 6 hrs. because she is a woman and has a more organised approach

This is not a word problem, or a mathematical problem.It's not a problem at all.

Answer 2

Joe's rate is one job in eight hours or 1/8 job/hr.

Jan's rate is 1/x job/hr.

Together, their rate is 1/5 job/hr.

Therefore,

1/8 + 1/x = 1/5

x + 8 = (1/5)8x

0.6x = 8

x = 8/0.6 = 40/3

x = 13-1/3 hrs

x = 13 hours and 20 minutes

Answer 3

You need to find the least common multiple of the two numbers (the smallest number (not zero) that is a multiple of both). This is 40. Together, they can clean 1 garage/5 hours, or 8g/40h.  Joe can do 1g/8h, or 5g/40h.  This means that together, during a 40 hour period, they can clean 8 garages. Joe cleans 5 of these, so Jan's rate must be 3g/40h, or 1g/13.33h.  So, Jan alone would take 13 and 1/3 hours to clean the garage.

Answer 4

The PHRASE you are looking for is "insufficient information."

Answer 5

You Can't? Not enough information?