wilma can mow a lawn in 120 minutes. vanessa can mow the same lawn in 80 minutes. how long does it take for both wilma and vanessa to mow the lawn if they are working together?

Answer

48 minutes.

Find the individual rate of work for each person. Let Wilma's rate of work be W and Vanessa's rate of work be V.
W = 1/120 (Since she can mow 1 lawn in 120 minutes)
V = 1/80 (Since she can mow 1 lawn in 80 minutes)
Calculate the combined rate of work for both Wilma and Vanessa: C = W + V.
C = (1/120) + (1/80)
C = 1/48 (Combine the fractions)
Use the combined rate of work and the total amount of work needed to find the time it takes for both Wilma and Vanessa to mow the lawn when working together. Let the total amount of work be T.
T = 1 (Since they are mowing one lawn)
C = T / time
Solve for time: time = T / C
time = 48 minutes.