Question

Shawn and Ellie are construction workers. Shawn can complete a concrete job in 4 hours, while Ellie can complete it in 6 hours. The foreman says that it will take them 5 hours to complete it if they work together. Explain each step in solving this equation, and determine if the foreman is correct or not.

Answer 1

The foreman is correct. if you would add 4 and 6 then divide that by 2 you would get 5. Theoretically, it doesn't make sense but mathematically it does.