Expert: Richard J. Raridon - 2/29/2008

Question
I know that project question might be weird, but i would REALLY like to pass this marking period. I'm going to write it out: A blue, red and purple candle of equal length are lit at 10 p.m the blue takes 6 hours to burn, the red 3, and the purple 12. When is 1 candle exactly twice as long as the other candles? and then my teacher put: for the red& purple an approximation would be sufficient. I hope that wasn't too long. PLEASE HELP

Answer
If the original length is L,
the blue length BL = L -(L/6)t
RL = L -(L/3)t and PL = L-(L/12)t
so for blue and red, L -(L/6)t = 2[L-(L/3)t] and t = 2 hours
For purple and blue, L -(L/12)t = 2[L-(L/6)t] and t = 4 hours
for purple and red, L -(L/12)t = 2[L-(L/3)t] and t = 12/7 hours
Interesting problem