Question

Suppose there are two neighbors, Jared and Paul. These two neighbors have the same size lawn and the same amount of hedges. Each week the two neighbors mow their own lawns and trim their own hedges. It takes Jared 30 minutes to mow his lawn and 60 minutes to trim his hedges for a total time of 90 minutes of yard work. It takes Paul 120 minutes to mow his lawn and 90 minutes to trim his hedges, for a total of 210 minutes of yard work. Could the two neighbors gain by specializing and trading lawn services?, If so where should they specialize and how much time could the save each week?.

Answer 1

Answer:

Paul should trim both hedges and Jared should mow both lawns.

Each neighbor would save 30 minutes per week

Step-by-step explanation:

The time each neighbor takes to finish each task is presented below:

$\begin{array}{ccc}&Paul&Jared\\Mow&120&30\\Trim&90&60\end{array}$

Jared is better at mowing the lawn than trimming hedges, while Paul is better at trimming hedges than mowing the lawn. Therefore, the two neighbors could gain by specializing and trading lawn services if Paul were to trim both hedges and Jared were to mow the lawns.

The time saved by each is:

$P = 210 -90-90=30\ min\\J = 90-30-30=30\ min$