Carcass wrote:
Working alone at its constant rate, machine A can complete a job in 24 hours. The work rate of machine B is 1/2 that of machine A. If machine A works on the job for 6 hours and machine B completes the job, how long does it take machine B to finish the job?
A. 12hrs
B. 16hrs
C. 24hrs
D. 32hrs
E. 36hrs
Working alone at its constant rate, machine A can complete a job in 24 hours.  The work rate of machine B is 1/2 that of machine A.  So, it must take Machine B 48 hours to complete the job. 
Now let's 
assign a nice value to the job. That is, we'll assign a value that works well with 24 hours and 48 hours. 
Let's say that the  entire job consists of making a total of 
48 widgets
If it take Machine A 24 hours to make 
48 widgets, then machine A's RATE = 2 widgets per HOUR
If it take Machine B 48 hours to make 
48 widgets, then machine B's RATE = 1 widget per HOUR
 If machine A works on the job for 6 hours . . .   At a rate of 2 widgets per HOUR, machine A can make 
12 widgets in 6 hours
So, the amount of work remaining = 
48 widgets - 
12 widgets = 36 widgets
 . . . and machine B completes the job, how long does it take machine B to finish the job? Machine B must make the 36 widgets
Machine B's RATE = 1 widget per HOUR
Time = output/rate = 36/1 = 36 
It will take machine B 36 hours to complete the job. 
Answer: E
Cheers,
Brent