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A contractor agreed to construct a 66 km road in 200200 days. He employed 140140 persons for the work. After 6060 days, he realized that only 1.51.5 km road has been completed. How many additional people would he need to employ in order to finish the work exactly on time?

Entered answer:

Solution

✅ Correct Answer: 40

A contractor has a time crunch situation! We need to build a 6 km road in 200 days, but the work is behind schedule. Let's figure out how many extra workers are needed.

Given Information:

Total work: 6 km road

Total time available: 200 days

Current workforce: 140 persons

Work completed after 60 days: 1.5 km

Work remaining: 6 - 1.5 = 4.5 km

Time remaining: 200 - 60 = 140 days


Work rate tells us how much work gets done per person per day.

From the first 60 days:

140 persons completed 1.5 km in 60 days

Work rate = 1.5 km ÷ (140 persons × 60 days)

= 1.58400\tfrac{1.5}{8400} km per person per day


Instead of complex calculations, let's use proportions!

If 1.5 km took 60 days with 140 persons, then:

Remaining work = 4.5 km = 3 × 1.5 km

Time needed = 3 × 60 days = 180 days

Problem Alert: We only have 140 days left, but need 180 days!


More workers = Less time (inverse relationship)

Using the Work = People × Time concept:

Work required = 140 people × 180 days = 25200 "person-days"

Time available = 140 days

People needed = 25200 ÷ 140 = 180 people

Alternative way to think about it:

If 140 people need 180 days, but we only have 140 days, we need:

140 × (180 ÷ 140) = 140 × 1.286 = 180 people


Current workforce: 140 people

Required workforce: 180 people

Additional workers needed = 180 - 140 = 40 people


Answer: 40

Why This Works: The contractor needs to compress 180 days of work into 140 days, which requires proportionally more workers. The ratio 180:140 = 9:7, meaning we need 9/7 times as many workers as currently available.

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