Joan and Jan work together

Name: Karyna

Who is asking: Student
Level: All

Question:
I saw this problem in a magazine....I am stumped.

Joan and Jan work together and they set up a bandstand in just 24 minutes, but if Joan does it by herself she takes 1 hour. How long would it take Jan to set up the bandstand by himself?

Hi Karyna,

Joan and Jan work together and they set up a bandstand in just 24 minutes,

So, they could set up 5 bandstands in 5*24 minutes, that is, 2 hours. but if Joan does it by herself she takes 1 hour. So, in 2 hours, Joan could set up 2 of the 5 bandstands, leaving the other 3 to Jan. How long would it take Jan to set up the bandstand by himself? Can you find it now?

Claude Go to Math Central