Question

Max and Maggie have to clean the house. It takes Max 12 hours to clean the house, while Maggie can complete the task in 4 hours. Their sister says that it will take 3 hours to complete if they work together. Explain each step in solving this equation and determine if the sister is correct or not.

Answer 1

You first take half of 12 which is 6, then you take half of 4 which is 2. you know find the answer by dividing 6 by 2. the sister is correct

Answer 2

The sum of their rates is the combined rate. But we don't know the combined time. We'll solve for it. 112+14=1t In this case the LCM of the entire equation is 3*4*t, or 12t.
 Multiply everything by 12t. t+3t=12 4t=12 t=3

Their sister is correct.