Work Word Problems

Respect   Responsibility   Readiness

1. Doug Upp can dig a ditch in 4 hours. Mark Upp can dig the same ditch in 3 hours. How long (in hours) would it take them to dig it together?

2. If Butch Err can type a paper in 5 hours and together he and Janet can type it in 2 hours, how long would it take Janet type the same paper alone?

3. Two women paint a barn. Barbara can paint it alone in 5 days, Sara in 8 days. They start to paint it together, but after 2 days Sara gets bored and Barbara finishes alone. How long does it take her to finish?

4. A swimming pool can be filled by an inlet pipe in 10 hours and emptied by an outlet pipe in 12 hours. One day the pool is empty and the owner opens the inlet to fill the pool. But he forgets to close the outlet. With both pipes open, how long will it take to fill the pool?

5. Manny, Moe, and Jack work at Pepboys. If each worked alone, it would take Manny 10 hours, Moe 8 hours, and Jack 12 hours alone. One day Manny came to work early and he had worked for 2 hours when Moe and Jack arrived and all three finished the job. How long did they take to finish?

6. Tim, Dick, and Harry decided to fence a vacant lot adjoining their properties. If it would take Tom 4 days to build the fence, Dick 3 days, and Harry 6 days, how long would it take them working together?

7. John and Charles are linemen. John can string 10 miles of line in 3 days, while together they can string it in 1 day. How long would it take Charles alone to string the same line?

8. A firm advertises for workers to address envelopes. Patty says she will work 1OO hours. Herb will work for 80 hours. If each can address 10,000 envelopes in the time they work, how long would it take them to address 10,000 envelopes if they work together?

9. Jimmy D Lock cataloged a group of incoming library books in 8 hours. Eva Lu Shun can catalog the same number of books in 4 hours. Phil T Hans can catalog them in 6 hours. How long would it take if they all worked together?

10. One machine can complete a job in 10 minutes. If the same job is done by this machine and an older machine working together, the job can be completed in 6 minutes. How long would it take the older machine to do the job alone?

11. A pond is being drained by a pump. After 3 hours, the pond is half empty. A second pump is put into operation, and together the two pumps finish emptying the pond in half an hour. How long would it take the second pump to drain the pond if it had to do the same job alone?

12. Eb and Flo are bricklayers. Eb can lay bricks for a fireplace and chimney in 5 days. With Flo’s help he can build it in 2 days. How long would it take Flo to build it alone?

13. Lotta Spences can paint a car in 8 hours. Ernest Worker can paint the same car in 6 hours. They start to paint the car together. After 2 hours, Lotta leaves for lunch and Ernest finishes painting the car alone. How long does it take Ernest to finish?

14. Bill, Bob, and Barry are hired to paint signs. In 8 hours Bill can paint I sign, Bob can paint 2 signs, and Barry can paint 1 1/3 signs. They all come to work the first day, but Barry doesn’t like the job and quits after 3 hours. Bob works half an hour longer than Barry and quits. How long will it take Bill to finish the two signs they were supposed to paint?

15. Art Tillery has to grind the valves on his Mercedes. He estimates it will take him 8 hours. His friends Moe Tell and Fran Tick have done the same job in 10 and 12 hours, respectively. Art had worked for 2 hours when Moe came along and helped him for 2 hours. Moe worked another half an hour alone and then Fran came along and together they finished the job. How long did it take them to finish?

16. Mr. Caleb hires Jay and Debbie to prune his vineyard. Jay can prune the vineyard in 50 hours, and Debbie can prune it in 40 hours. How many hours will it take them working together?

17. A high school hiking club held a car wash to raise money for equipment. Rudy, Cheryl, Tom, and Pat volunteered to help. Rudy could wash a car in 10 minutes, Cheryl in 12,Tom in 8, and Pat in 15. They all started on the first car, but after 2 minutes another car came in and Pat and Tom went to work on it. One minute later Rudy quit to take care of another customer. How long did it take Cheryl to finish the first car alone?

18. Harry can paint a room in 3 hours, and Kerry can paint it in 4 hours. How long will it take if they work together?

19. Matthew can build a block wall in 3 days. Andy can build the wait in 5 days. How long will it take if they work together?

20. Pump A can fiIl a tank in 8 hours. Pump B can fill the tank in 6 hours. How long will it take to fill the tank using both pumps?

21. To do a job alone, it would take Jennifer 5 hours, Bob 8 hours, and George 10 hours. How long would it take if they all work together?

22. Susan and Mary working together can rake a lawn in 2 hours. Susan can do the job alone in 3 hours. How long would it take Mary lo rake the lawn alone?

23. Pipe A can empty a pool in 8 hours. It Pipe B is also used, the pool can be emptied in 3 hours. How long would it take Pipe B, by itself, to empty the pool?

24. Noah can build an ark in 40 days. Together, Noah and his wife can build the ark in 24 days. How long would it take Noah’s wife working alone?