9y?

This is a confusing one which may be best handled by plugging in numbers. Let's say that John and Mary were each given $900 for the job, for a total payment of $1,800.

They worked a total of 18 hours on the job, but Mary only worked 8 of those hours. So to be fair, she gave John some money. $1800 for 18 hours work is $100/hr, and John worked 10 hours. So he should have $1000 and Mary should have $800 when it's all said and done. They both got $900 to start, so Mary gives John $100, which is "y" in the problem.

So y=$100.

How much was John paid in advance? $900. If we plug y=$100 into all the answer choices, we see pretty quickly that the answer is 9y.

rahim wrote:9y?

hi rahim u have got the right answer.. but it wuld be really helpful if u also post the solution to the problem .. it will help in learning different approaches to the same problem...

Writing an equation for the hourly wage,

(x + y) / 10 = (x - y) / 8
8x + 8y = 10x - 10y
x = 9y