John Rick and Molly can paint a room working together in five hours. Alone, Molly can paint the room in 14 hours. If Rick works alone, he can paint the room in 10 hours. Find how long it will take John to paint a room by himself.

Answer 1

Let's denote the time it takes John to paint the room alone as J.

We can set up the equation:
1/14 + 1/10 + 1/J = 1/5

Solving for J:
1/14 + 1/10 + 1/J = 1/5
Multiplying by 70J to get rid of the fractions:
5J + 7J + 70 = 14J
12J + 70 = 14J
70 = 2J
35 = J

Therefore, John can paint the room by himself in 35 hours.