Question

orge and Mary are both filling cups with fruit punch in preparation for a party. After 3 minutes, Jorge had 53 cups left to be filled, and after 5 minutes, he had 25 cups left to be filled. Mary’s progress is shown in the table of values below. Assuming that both Jorge and Mary are filling cups at a constant rate, which statement is correct?


Mary’s Cup-Filling Progress
Time (minutes)
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Cups Remaining
99
81
63
45
27
Jorge is filling 14 cups per minute, which is faster than Mary.
Jorge is filling 28 cups per minute, which is faster than Mary.
Mary is filling 18 cups per minute, which is faster than Jorge.
Mary is filling 36 cups per minute, which is faster than Jorge.

Answer 1

Jorge: (53 − 25) cups in (5 − 3) minutes = 28/2 = 14 cups per minute.

Mary: (99 − 81) = 18 cups in (1 − 0.5) = 0.5 minute → 18/0.5 = 36 cups per minute.

Therefore Mary is filling 36 cups per minute, which is faster than Jorge.