A master carpenter can do the trim work in a house in 5 days. The apprentice carpenter can do the same work in 8 days. How long will it take the two of them working together to do the trim work in the house. (Round your answer to two decimal
places)

geometry: triangles

solvers

lessons

answers archive

call the larger triangle abc

then the smaller triangle cde is similar to abc (all angles are equal, aaa).  

ab is the side that is 36, and we wish to find de, the side corresponding to ab

area_cde = area_abc - area_cde --> area_abc / area_cde = 2

let x=length of de

ratio of areas = (ratio of sides)^2

+2+=+%2836%2fx%29%5e2+

+2+=+1296%2fx%5e2+

++x%5e2+=+1296%2f2+=+648+

25.45584

answer: 5/2     2 1/2

step-by-step explanation:

5/2              

5 goes into 2 two times so its 2 and 1/2