Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · MATH

Print

jmc

algebra intermediate

Problem

Four people can mow a lawn in 6 hours. How many more people will be needed to mow the lawn in 4 hours, assuming each person mows at the same rate?
Solution
The number of people mowing and the time required to mow are inversely proportional. Letting be the number of people and be the amount of time, we have because 4 people can mow a lawn in 6 hours. If people can mow the lawn in 4 hours, then we must have , so . Therefore, we need more people to complete the job in 4 hours.
Final answer
2