[email protected] wrote:Hi lheiannie07,

We're told that it takes 3 employees, who all work at the same rate, 5 hours to complete the typing of a 500 page document. We're asked how long it would take 6 similar employees to complete a document that is 750 pages. The answer choices are 'spread out enough' that you can actually answer this question without doing too much math - you just need a little logic and a couple of 'comparisons.'

IF.... we were just doubling the number of employees, then the original job would take HALF of the time (2.5 hours instead of the original 5 hours). We're not doing the original job though - we're doing MORE work - so the time needed has to be GREATER than 2.5 hours.

Since we're doubling the number of employees, but we're NOT doubling the number of pages (that number is only increased by 50%), we know that the total amount of time would have to be LESS than 5 hours.

There's only one answer that falls in that range....

Final Answer: C

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Scott@TargetTestPrep wrote:

lheiannie07 wrote:It takes 3 employees, who all work at the same rate, 5 hours to complete the typing of a 500 page document. How long would it take 6 similar employees to complete a document with 750 pages?

A. 1.25
B. 2.5
C. 3.75
D. 5.5
E. 7.5

We are given that 3 employees, who all work at the same rate, can type 500 pages in 5 hours.

So, the rate of the 3 employees is 500/5 = 100 pages per hour. Let's use a proportion to determine x, the rate of the 6 employees.

3/100 = 6/x

3x = 600

x = 200

Since time = work/rate, it takes 6 workers 750/200 = 3.75 hours to complete 750 pages.

Answer: C