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After it snows, it takes Maria and her little sister Anita 12\frac{1}{2} of an hour to shovel the snow off of the sidewalks on their street. This is 23\frac{2}{3} of the time it takes Maria to do the same job by herself. How long does it take Maria do this job by herself?

Full solution

Q. After it snows, it takes Maria and her little sister Anita 12\frac{1}{2} of an hour to shovel the snow off of the sidewalks on their street. This is 23\frac{2}{3} of the time it takes Maria to do the same job by herself. How long does it take Maria do this job by herself?
  1. Define Time Variables: Let's denote the time it takes Maria to shovel the snow by herself as xx hours. According to the problem, Maria and her sister together take 12\frac{1}{2} hour to complete the task, and this time is 23\frac{2}{3} of the time Maria takes by herself.\newlineSo, we can write the equation: 12=23×x\frac{1}{2} = \frac{2}{3} \times x.
  2. Set Up Equation: To find xx, we need to solve for xx in the equation 12=23×x\frac{1}{2} = \frac{2}{3} \times x. To do this, we can divide both sides of the equation by 23\frac{2}{3} to isolate xx.\newlinex=1223x = \frac{\frac{1}{2}}{\frac{2}{3}}.
  3. Solve for x: When dividing fractions, we multiply by the reciprocal of the divisor. The reciprocal of 23\frac{2}{3} is 32\frac{3}{2}. So, x=(12)×(32)x = \left(\frac{1}{2}\right) \times \left(\frac{3}{2}\right).
  4. Divide Fractions: Now, we multiply the numerators and the denominators separately. x=1×32×2x = \frac{1 \times 3}{2 \times 2}.
  5. Calculate Final Time: This simplifies to:\newlinex=34x = \frac{3}{4}.\newlineSo, it takes Maria 34\frac{3}{4} of an hour to shovel the snow off of the sidewalks on her street by herself.

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