it takes 4 times as long to paint a privacy fence using an old fashioned brush as compared to the time it takes using a paint spryer.

Question

it takes 4 times as long to paint a privacy fence using an old fashioned brush as compared to the time it takes using a paint spryer. bill, using a paint brush, and bertha using the paint sprayer, begin working on their privacy fence at noon. after just one hour, the paint sprayer gets clogged and bertha had to take it back to the store to get a replacement. bill continued to paint during the two hours she was gone. bertha resumed spraying as soon as she got back and after another two hours the fence was completely painted. how many hours would it take bill to do the entire fence working by himself the whole time

Answer 1

So, Bill paints for 5 total hours and Erin paints for 3. That means that it would have taken Bill 3(4) = 12 hours to paint what Erin painted, so it would have taken him 5 + 12 = 17 hours.