dunkin77 wrote:16. 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 ?
(A) 4y (B) 5y (C) 6y
(D) 8y (E) 9y
John and Mary were each paid x dollars in advance to do a certain job together.
John worked on the job for 10 hours.
Mary worked 2 hours less than John.
Since a total of 18 hours are worked -- 10 hours by John, 8 hours by Mary -- let x=18.
Since John and Mary are each given $18 in advance, the total pay for the job = 18+18 = 36.
Since Mary works 8 of the 18 hours, she takes home 8/18 of the total pay:
(8/18)(36) = 16.
Mary gave John y dollars of her payment.
Since Mary was given $18 in advance but takes home only $16, she gave John $2, implying that y=2.
What was the dollar amount that John was paid in advance?
Since John was given $18 in advance, the correct answer must yield $18 when y=2.
Only E works:
9y = 9*2 = 18.
The correct answer is
E.
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