Question

1. mary has an essay due in 4 days. she estimates that she needs to spend 6 hours working on her essay. she wants to split up the work and work the same amount of time each day. mary goes to bed at 10:00 p.m. and plans to work on her essay right before she goes to sleep. what time should mary start working on her essay each night so she can complete her essay on time? 8:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m.

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate daily work time

Mary needs 6 hours total over 4 days, so daily time is $6\div4 = 1.5$ hours (or 1 hour 30 minutes).

Step2: Find start time

She goes to bed at 10:00 p.m. Subtract 1.5 hours: 10:00 - 1:30 = 8:30 p.m.? Wait, no—wait, 1.5 hours is 90 minutes. Wait, no, 6 hours over 4 days: $6/4 = 1.5$ hours per day. So 10:00 p.m. minus 1.5 hours. 10:00 - 1 hour = 9:00, then -30 minutes = 8:30? Wait, no, wait, maybe I messed up. Wait, 6 hours total, 4 days: per day is 6/4 = 1.5 hours. So if she works 1.5 hours each night, starting before 10:00 p.m. So 10:00 p.m. minus 1.5 hours. Let's convert 1.5 hours to minutes: 90 minutes. 10:00 p.m. is 22:00. 22:00 - 1:30 = 20:30, which is 8:30 p.m. Wait, but let's check again. Wait, 4 days, 6 hours total: 6/4 = 1.5 hours per day. So each day she works 1.5 hours. She goes to bed at 10:00 p.m., so start time is 10:00 - 1:30 = 8:30 p.m.? Wait, but the options include 8:30 p.m. Wait, but let's recalculate. 6 hours divided by 4 days is 1.5 hours per day. 1.5 hours is 90 minutes. So 10:00 p.m. minus 90 minutes: 10:00 - 1 hour = 9:00, then -30 minutes = 8:30. So the start time should be 8:30 p.m. Wait, but let's check the options. The options are 8:00, 9:00, 9:30, 8:30. So 8:30 p.m. is an option. Wait, but maybe I made a mistake. Wait, 6 hours over 4 days: 6/4 = 1.5 hours. So 1.5 hours is 1 hour and 30 minutes. So 10:00 p.m. minus 1 hour 30 minutes is 8:30 p.m. So the start time is 8:30 p.m.

Answer:

8:30 p.m.