Put on Your problem Solving Hat I

dtweah wrote:Two handymen, Peter and Paul, agree to paint the interior of a house and lay hardwood floor.
The total area of the walls to be painted is 4000 square feet and the total floor area is 1500
square feet. In an hour of hard work, Peter can either paint 40 square feet or lay 15 square feet
of hardwood while Paul, a better hardwood layer, can either paint 20 square feet in an hour or
lay 30 square feet of hardwood. What is the minimum time (in hours) in which Peter and Paul,
working together, can finish the job?

a. 60
b. 75
c. 83(1/3)
3 d. 85(2/3)
3 e. 100

marcusking wrote:

dtweah wrote:Two handymen, Peter and Paul, agree to paint the interior of a house and lay hardwood floor.
The total area of the walls to be painted is 4000 square feet and the total floor area is 1500
square feet. In an hour of hard work, Peter can either paint 40 square feet or lay 15 square feet
of hardwood while Paul, a better hardwood layer, can either paint 20 square feet in an hour or
lay 30 square feet of hardwood. What is the minimum time (in hours) in which Peter and Paul,
working together, can finish the job?

a. 60
b. 75
c. 83(1/3)
3 d. 85(2/3)
3 e. 100

Well I assume when you say the minimum time in hours you aren't meaning total man hours but rather time span.

Given that Paul can lay 30 sq ft of hardwood and get all the hardwood done in 50 hrs.

While Peter painting 40sq ft/ hr will cover half of the 4000 sqft in those 50 hours, leaving 0 floors to be done and 2000 sqft of walls to be painted.

Working together they can cover 60sqft/hr painting so 2000/60 is 33 1/3
+ 50 hours initially gives us

C. 83 1/3