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# Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to

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Intern
Joined: 14 Jun 2011
Posts: 15
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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27 Dec 2012, 13:36
4
16
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Difficulty:

85% (hard)

Question Stats:

54% (02:33) correct 46% (02:55) wrong based on 249 sessions

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Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to complete a project when they work on it alone. They thought if they worked on the project together, they would take fewer days to complete it. During the period that they were working together, Jane took an eight day leave from work. This led to Jane's working for four extra days on her own to complete the project. How long did it take to finish the project ?

(A) 10 Days
(B) 15 Days
(C) 16 Days
(D) 18 Days
(E) 20 Days
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Re: Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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31 Jan 2013, 20:39
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tabsang wrote:
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to complete a project when they work on it alone. They thought if they worked on the project together, they would take fewer days to complete it. During the period that they were working together, Jane took an eight day leave from work. This led to Jane's working for four extra days on her own to complete the project. How long did it take to finish the project ?

(A) 10 Days
(B) 15 Days
(C) 16 Days
(D) 18 Days
(E) 20 Days

Remember, Work = Rate*Time and Rate = 1/Time

Ashley worked alone on the project for 8 days. Work done in these 8 days = R*T = (1/40)*8 = 1/5
Jane worked alone on the project for 4 days. Work done in these 4 days = R*T = (1/20)*4 = 1/5
Leftover work = 1 - 1/5 - 1/5 = 3/5

On this 3/5 work, both worked together. Their combined rate = 1/20 + 1/40 = 3/40
3/5 = 3/40*T
T = 8 days

Total time taken = 8 (Ashley worked alone) + 4(Jane worked alone) + 8 (Both worked together) = 20 days
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Re: Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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31 Jan 2013, 20:51
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Let us assume that the work is laying 40 bricks.

Jane = 2 bricks per day
Ashley = 1 brick per day
Together = 3 bricks per day

Let's say first 8 days Ashley works alone,
No of bricks = 8
Last 4 days Jane works alone,
No. of bricks = 8

Remaining bricks = 40 - 16 = 24
So together, they would take 24/3 = 8

Total no. of days = 8 + 4 + 8 = 20

##### General Discussion
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Posts: 631
Location: India
Re: Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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Updated on: 27 Dec 2012, 17:04
2
tabsang wrote:
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to complete a project when they work on it alone. They thought if they worked on the project together, they would take fewer days to complete it.
During the period that they were working together, Jane took an eight day leave from work. This led to Jane's working for four extra days on her own to complete the project. How long did it take to finish the project ?

(A) 10 Days
(B) 15 Days
(C) 16 Days
(D) 18 Days
(E) 20 Days

Assume Jane and Ashley worked together for x days without considering the 8 day leave of Jane. They would have completed $$x(\frac{1}{40} + \frac{1}{20})$$ of the total work in those days. In the period when Jane took a 8 day leave, Ashley worked alone. So Ashley worked alone for 8 days. He would have completed $$\frac{8}{40}$$ th of the total work. The work finished before Jane started working alone, is $$x(\frac{1}{20} + \frac{1}{40}) + \frac{8}{40}$$. This is equal to $$\frac{4}{5}$$ of the total work as in the period when Jane was working alone which is 4 days, she would have completed $$\frac{4}{20}$$ or $$\frac{1}{5}$$ of the work. Previously done work is therefore $$\frac{4}{5}$$.

$$x(\frac{1}{40} +\frac{1}{20}) +\frac{8}{40} = \frac{4}{5}$$

We have x = 8

Add to this the 8 days when Ashley worked alone and the 4 days when Jane worked alone. The total is 8+8+4=20 days.
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Magical Logicians
Holistic and Holy Approach

Originally posted by SravnaTestPrep on 27 Dec 2012, 14:57.
Last edited by SravnaTestPrep on 27 Dec 2012, 17:04, edited 2 times in total.
Manager
Joined: 03 Nov 2009
Posts: 54
Re: Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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27 Dec 2012, 16:06
I generally use take a constant (LCM) and a production example for this kind of questions.

Assuming that Jane and Ashley's work is production of certain number of Toys

In 20 days Jane completes making certain number of Toys and the same number of Toys takes 40 days for Ashley to complete, so we take the LCM (Lowest common Multiple) which would be the target work = 80 toys to complete

From above assumption we know that Jane completes 4 toys / day as in 80/20 days

And Ashley completes 2 toys / Day as in 80/40 days

Now if both worked without any break they would take 80/4+2 days to complete which is 13.333 days, so that eliminates choice (A) = 10 days

Now plugging in choices, B - Jane completes (15-8)*4 = 28
Ashley completes 15*2 =30
Total work in 15 days with 8 days break by Jane = 28+30 = 58 toys
Jane works for 4 days on her own = 4*4 = 16 toys
So in 15 days ( both Jane & Ashley)+ 4 days(only Jane) they complete 58+16 =74 toys, 6 short of the target of 80

Plug in choice C - Ashley completes 16*2= 32 toys
Jane completes 8*4 = 32 toys
Total in 16 days = 64 toys
Jane takes 4 days on her own, 4*4 = 16 toys
So in 16 days ( both Jane & Ashley)+ 4 days(only Jane) they complete = 64+16 = 80 toys which is the target.

Ans : E
Intern
Joined: 25 Sep 2012
Posts: 11
Re: Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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31 Jan 2013, 19:47
SravnaTestPrep wrote:
tabsang wrote:
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to complete a project when they work on it alone. They thought if they worked on the project together, they would take fewer days to complete it.
During the period that they were working together, Jane took an eight day leave from work. This led to Jane's working for four extra days on her own to complete the project. How long did it take to finish the project ?

(A) 10 Days
(B) 15 Days
(C) 16 Days
(D) 18 Days
(E) 20 Days

Assume Jane and Ashley worked together for x days without considering the 8 day leave of Jane. They would have completed $$x(\frac{1}{40} + \frac{1}{20})$$ of the total work in those days. In the period when Jane took a 8 day leave, Ashley worked alone. So Ashley worked alone for 8 days. He would have completed $$\frac{8}{40}$$ th of the total work. The work finished before Jane started working alone, is $$x(\frac{1}{20} + \frac{1}{40}) + \frac{8}{40}$$. This is equal to $$\frac{4}{5}$$ of the total work as in the period when Jane was working alone which is 4 days, she would have completed $$\frac{4}{20}$$ or $$\frac{1}{5}$$ of the work. Previously done work is therefore $$\frac{4}{5}$$.

$$x(\frac{1}{40} +\frac{1}{20}) +\frac{8}{40} = \frac{4}{5}$$

We have x = 8

Add to this the 8 days when Ashley worked alone and the 4 days when Jane worked alone. The total is 8+8+4=20 days.

How could you reach to 4/5th of the total work please explain in detail
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Re: Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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03 May 2018, 15:24
tabsang wrote:
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to complete a project when they work on it alone. They thought if they worked on the project together, they would take fewer days to complete it. During the period that they were working together, Jane took an eight day leave from work. This led to Jane's working for four extra days on her own to complete the project. How long did it take to finish the project ?

(A) 10 Days
(B) 15 Days
(C) 16 Days
(D) 18 Days
(E) 20 Days

Jane’s rate is 1/20, Ashley’s rate is 1/40, and their combined rate is 1/20 + 1/40 = 2/40 + 1/40 = 3/40. We can let n = the number of days they actually worked together and create the equation:

Together + Ashley alone + Jane alone = 1 job

(3/40)n + (1/40)8 + (1/20)4 = 1

3n/40 + 8/40 + 4/20 = 1

Multiplying by 40 we have:

3n + 8 + 8 = 40

3n = 24

n = 8

So it took 8 + 8 + 4 = 20 days to complete the project.

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Posts: 205
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to  [#permalink]

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18 Jun 2019, 06:40
We are told that Jane had to work FOUR extra days to make up for the work-loss incurred because of the EIGHT days leave that she took while working together with Ashley.We can thus conclude that, while determining how many days they would need to complete the project (Scheduled Time for Completion or STC), Jane and Ashley had factored in a four-day leave for Jane.
If we denote STC by 'x', the plan was that Jane would work for (x-4) days and Ashley 'x' days. So as per the STC, Jane would have done (1/20)*(x-4)th of the work and Ashley (1/40)*(x)th.

(1/20)*(x-4) + (1/40)*x = 1....> x=16

Scheduled time for completion of project = 16 days
Actual time taken to complete project = 16+4=20 days.
ANS: E
Jane and Ashley take 20 days and 40 days respectively to   [#permalink] 18 Jun 2019, 06:40