Monday Math Problem Divya started her math homework at 4:02 p.m. and finished it at 4:20 p.m. Maria started her math homework 2 minutes before Divya started, but spent twice as much time working on it. What time did Maria finish her math homwork
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Answer:
Maria finished her math homework at 4:38 p.m.
Explanation
To find when Maria finished her homework, we need to determine two things: how long she worked and when she started.
First, let us look at Divya’s homework time.
Divya started her homework at 4:02 p.m. and finished at 4:20 p.m. To find how long she worked, subtract the start time from the end time. From 4:02 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. is 18 minutes. This means Divya spent 18 minutes working on her math homework.
Next, we are told that Maria started her homework 2 minutes before Divya. Since Divya started at 4:02 p.m., subtracting 2 minutes from that time means Maria started at 4:00 p.m.
Now we need to find how long Maria worked. According to the problem, Maria spent twice as much time as Divya. Divya worked for 18 minutes, so Maria worked for 18 × 2 = 36 minutes.
Now that we know when Maria started and how long she worked, we can figure out when she finished. Maria started at 4:00 p.m. and worked for 36 minutes.
To find her finishing time, add 36 minutes to 4:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m. plus 30 minutes is 4:30 p.m., and 6 more minutes takes us to 4:36 p.m. So, Maria finished her math homework at 4:36 p.m.
However, this does not match the original answer given above. Let’s double-check.
Wait — Divya started at 4:02 p.m. and worked until 4:20 p.m., which is 18 minutes. Maria started 2 minutes before 4:02 p.m., meaning she started at 4:00 p.m. If she worked for twice as long, then 18 × 2 = 36 minutes. Adding 36 minutes to 4:00 p.m. brings us to 4:36 p.m. — not 4:38 p.m. as stated above.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
Maria finished her math homework at 4:36 p.m.
