Question)4 men and 3 women can finish a piece of work in 6 days whereas if there were 5 men and 7 women, they would have taken 4 days to finish the work. How many days will 1 man and 1 woman take to finish the work?
Solution:We have been given information about the number of people required to complete the work in 6 days and 4 days. Let us make the number of days equal, say, 1 day.
Number of people required to complete the work in 6 days = 4 men and 3 women
=> Number of people required to complete the work in 1 day = 6*4 men and 6*3 women = 24 men and 18 women
Number of people required to complete the work in 4 days = 5 men and 7 women
=> Number of people required to complete the work in 1 day = 4*5 men and 4*7 women = 20 men and 28 women
Thus, we have:
24 men and 18 women are equivalent to 20 men and 28 women
=> 4 men are equivalent to 10 women
=> 1 man is equivalent to 2.5 women
=> 1 man and 1 woman together is equivalent to 3.5 women
Also, 4 men and 3 women are equivalent to 13 women
Thus, from the given relation, we have:
13 women take 6 days to complete the work
=> Time taken by 3.5 women = 13*6/3.5 = 156/7 days
Answer BAlternate approach:4 men and 3 women take 6 days to complete the work
We need to determine the time taken by 1 man and 1 woman
Taking 1/4th of 4 men and 3 women, we would need 4 times the time, i.e. 6*4 = 24 days
=> 1 man and 0.75 women would take 24 days
Thus, 1 man and 1 woman would take somewhere around 24 days (slightly less than 24)
[Most probable option looks B]
Let us use the 2nd statement:
5 men and 7 women take 4 days to complete the work
We need to determine the time taken by 1 man and 1 woman
Taking 1/5th of 5 men and 7 women, we would need 5 times the time, i.e. 4*5 = 20 days
=> 1 man and 1.4 women would take 20 days
Thus, 1 man and 1 woman would take somewhere around 20 days (slightly more than 20)
=> Only option is B