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Together, they can finish the job in 1/5 + 1/6 = 1/T time. Solving for T yields 30/11 hours. If they've already worked for 2 hours, which is 22/11 hours, they have 22/30 done and about 4/15 of the job left. Going at a rate of 5 hours/job, Deborah can finish in 5hours/job*4job/15 = 4/3 hours.

Choice C
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In first 2 hrs Tome will finish 2/6 = 1/3 of work and Deborah will finish 2/5 work so total 1/3 + 2/5 = 11/15 work is finished and
1-11/15 = 4/15 work remaining. Now Deborah will take (4/15)*5 = 4/3 hrs to finish it.

So answer is C.
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Answer = C = 4/3

Rate of Deborah \(= \frac{1}{5}\)

Rate of Tom \(= \frac{1}{6}\)

Combined rate (Tom & Deborah) \(= \frac{1}{6} + \frac{1}{5} = \frac{11}{30}\)

Combined work done \(= \frac{11}{30} * 2 = \frac{11}{15}\)

Pending work\(= 1 - \frac{11}{15} = \frac{4}{15}\)

Time required by Deborah only for pending work \(= \frac{4}{15} * 5 = \frac{4}{3}\)
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For Problems such as these, I prefer to use the RTW chart. To make calculations easier let the work done be 30 (LCM of 5 and 6).

The Table will look something like this

Attachment:
Screen Shot 2017-10-17 at 8.24.06 PM.png
Screen Shot 2017-10-17 at 8.24.06 PM.png [ 26.56 KiB | Viewed 6110 times ]

From the RTW chart, it is clear that the time needed by Deborah to finish the Balance work is 4/3. Required answer is C.
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We can avoid fractions
Total work= LCM of time taken by Deborah and tom=6*5=30=Total work

Formula=workdone(w)=Rate*Time
w=30
Time taken by Deborah=5hrs
Time taken by Tom=6hrs
Rate of Deborah=30/5=6 ie she does 6 units of work every Hr
Rate of Tom=30/6=5 ie he does 5 units of work every Hr
In 1 hr both of them can do 5+6=11 units of work and in 2 hrs they both can do 22 units of work.
The work left=30-22=8
Deborah can do this work in 8/6=4/3 hrs.
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Bunuel

Tough and Tricky questions: Work/Rate Problems.



Working individually, Deborah can wash all the dishes from her friend’s wedding banquet in 5 hours and Tom can wash all the dishes in 6 hours. If Deborah and Tom work together but independently at the task for 2 hours, at which point Tom leaves, how many remaining hours will it take Deborah to complete the task alone?

A. 4/15
B. 3/11
C. 4/3
D. 15/11
E. 11/2

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Source: Chili Hot GMAT
Let the total work be 30 Units ( LCM of 5 & 6 )

Efficiency of Deborah is 6 units/hr & Efficiency of Tom is 5 units/hr

So, Combined efficiency of Deborah & Tom is 11 units/hr

Work done by them in 2 hours is 22 Units ; Work left is 8 Units

So, Time required by Deborah to complete the task alone is 8/6 = 4/3 , Answer must be (C)
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