The time needed to paint a fence varies directly with the length of the fence and inversely with the number of painters. If it takes 5 hours to paint 200 feet of fence with 3 painters, how long will it take 5 painters to paint 500 feet of fence?
Q. The time needed to paint a fence varies directly with the length of the fence and inversely with the number of painters. If it takes 5 hours to paint 200 feet of fence with 3 painters, how long will it take 5 painters to paint 500 feet of fence?
Calculate Rate: First, let's find the rate at which one painter can paint the fence. We use the formula: Time=RateLength of fence×Number of painters. Here, we know the time (5 hours), the length (200 feet), and the number of painters (3). So, we solve for Rate.Rate = 5 hours200 feet×3 painters=120 feet per hour per painter.
Calculate Time: Now, we need to calculate the time it will take for five painters to paint 500 feet of fence using the rate we found. We rearrange the formula to solve for Time: Time=(Length of fence×Number of painters)/Rate.Time=(500 feet×5 painters)/120 feet per hour per painter=20.83 hours.
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