It takes Joan 4 times longer than Jane to file reports. Together, they can file there reports in 8 minutes. How long would it take each woman to file the reports by herself?

It would take Joan __1.6 minutes (96 secs)_minutes to complete the job alone

It would take Jane____6.4 minutes___minutes to complete the job alone

Solution:

Let x - joan's time

     y - jane's time

y = 4x

x + y = 480(8 x 60 secs)

Substitute 1st equation:

x + 4x = 480

5x = 480

x = 480/5 = 96 secs.