Chaitanya_1986 wrote:John and Mary were each paid x dollars in advance to do a certain job together. John worked on the job for 10 hours and Mary worked 2 hours less than John. If Mary gave john y dollars of her payment so that they would have received the same hourly wage, what was the dollar amount, in terms of y, that john was paid in advance?
4y
5y
6y
8y
9y
OA is E
Plug in a value for the hourly wage.
Let hourly wage = $1.
Over 10 hours, John earns 10*1 = $10.
Over 8 hours, Mary earns 8*1 = $8.
Total payment = 10+8 = $18.
Thus, John and Mary were each paid in advance 18/2 = $9.
In order to earn only $8, Mary must give John y = 9-8 =$1.
The question asks for the amount that John was paid in advance ($9).
Now we plug y=1 into the answers to see which yields our target of 9.
Only answer choice E works:
9y = 9*1 = 9.
The correct answer is
E.
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