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Bill takes 2 hours to mow the lawn. Dan takes 4 hours to mow the same lawn. If they both mow the lawn using 2 lawn mowers and start at the same time, how long would it take them to mow the lawn?

This is just a example...

closer to

4 hours
3 hours
2 hours
1 hour

That's math not common sense.

common sense might dictate that coordinating two people mowing one lawn is harder than a single person doing the same job

Originally posted by inimalist
common sense might dictate that coordinating two people mowing one lawn is harder than a single person doing the same job

The age old conundrum: Many hands make light work but too many cooks spoil the soup.

In this case though the lawn is probably large enough there would only be coordination problems over the last little part of the work.

Common sense tells me be wary of this thread.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
The age old conundrum: Many hands make light work but too many cooks spoil the soup.

In this case though the lawn is probably large enough there would only be coordination problems over the last little part of the work.

probably, but you took the "thats math" answer

Originally posted by inimalist
probably, but you took the "thats math" answer

Assuming that Bill and Dan are fairly normal people getting the answer to within an hour is a matter of math (although if you assume they work with perfect efficiency there are two equally valid answers).

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Assuming that Bill and Dan are fairly normal people getting the answer to within an hour is a matter of math (although if you assume they work with perfect efficiency there are two equally valid answers).

well, that depends if they divide the task by equal work time or equal work load.

Bill and Dan go halves on hiring an illegal immigrant to mow that lawn and go have homosexual intercourse behind their wives' backs.

Probably in Bill's house, he has double-pane windows, less likely for the neighbors to hear the sloppy butt-sex and groans.

Originally posted by Mindship
Common sense tells me be wary of this thread.

Com on, you know the answer.. is 1 hour.... but in the real world? what do u think common sense comes from? knowledge? memory? Or something else?

Originally posted by inimalist
well, that depends if they divide the task by equal work time or equal work load.

I can answer that using math too (well, logic, I can't write out a formula for it).

I'm not sure why I said there were two equally right answers before. If you assume they both work continuously until done its much closer to one hour than two.

this question is very interesting to me... I've asked many people my lawyer and doctor friends all said 1. Even the guy that owns the Bagel store but his answer was 2.6....

Mathematically, one hour. Real life variables added--who knows.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Mathematically, one hour. Real life variables added--who knows. When I used to work in a machine shop, a typical job I'd be given was: cut a metal strip 1" by 1/4" and punch 2 holes in it at such-n-such spots. Make 5000 of them. So I'd set up, get busy, and after about 15-30 minutes, when I had a certain amount done, I went over to my foreman (he was a great guy: everyone had a nickname in that shop, and his was Snowstorm because a) his last name was Winters, and b) he was an albino), and told him, based on what I'd done, the job should take me about 3 hours. The first time I did this, he smiled at me and said, What about the boredom factor?

The job would take more like 4-5 hours.

Originally posted by alltoomany
what do u think common sense comes from? knowledge? memory? Or something else? Offhand: build a database of common life experiences; add memory for access; top off with a shmear of logic for generalization.

It would take them 1.33 hours (to mow the lawn together).


Formula:


X + X = 1 (job)
__ __

2 4



2X + X = 4



3X = 4


4/3


X = 1 1/3



1.33 hours



My math is rusty... I could be wrong.



Eh... it was fun nonetheless.

I hate math, but I'd tell them to be done within 2 hours or they don't get paid. If they get it done within 1 hour they get a bonus.

Originally posted by ushomefree
It would take them 1.33 hours (to mow the lawn together).


Formula:


X + X = 1 (job)
__ __

2 4



2X + X = 4



3X = 4


4/3


X = 1 1/3



1.33 hours



My math is rusty... I could be wrong.



Eh... it was fun nonetheless.

In one hour Bill will complete half the work and Dan will complete one quarter of the work.

Then there is 1/4 of the lawn left to mow. That's 1/3 the amount of work they did in an hour. 1/3 of 60 is 20.

So an hour and twenty minutes.

But I'm not very good at math either.

thats the exact same logic I used

I didn't think to sub in X's or decimals, I knew it was 1 1/3 hour though...

I don't know, man...do they use 2 lawn mower each, cause I could imagine that to take longer.

Originally posted by ushomefree
It would take them 1.33 hours (to mow the lawn together).


Formula:


X + X = 1 (job)
__ __

2 4



2X + X = 4



3X = 4


4/3


X = 1 1/3



1.33 hours



My math is rusty... I could be wrong.



Eh... it was fun nonetheless. Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
In one hour Bill will complete half the work and Dan will complete one quarter of the work.

Then there is 1/4 of the lawn left to mow. That's 1/3 the amount of work they did in an hour. 1/3 of 60 is 20.

So an hour and twenty minutes.

But I'm not very good at math either.

You are both correct.

Originally posted by alltoomany
Bill takes 2 hours to mow the lawn. Dan takes 4 hours to mow the same lawn. If they both mow the lawn using 2 lawn mowers and start at the same time, how long would it take them to mow the lawn?

This is just a example...

closer to

4 hours
3 hours
2 hours
1 hour

Start at seperate corners, meet whenever you've done what you've done by the time the other one reach you and be done in around an hour.

On a somewhat related note, that's one big lawn or two slow guys.

Intelligence and wisdom gives a person better common sense...Mindship was right at the beginning...lol
when we think emotional there is no right answer to the example..
logic tells us there is just one answer, and thats closer to, one.

There is a birthday party for a child there is 4 kids at the party the cake is on the table a fight breaks out beween the grown ups.. what would you do?