Answer:
It will take 4.5 hours for Naomi and Clair to paint an equal number of square feet
Explanation:
Let the time in hour it will take for Naomi and Clair to paint an equal number of square feet be t hours.
Naomi paints 16.5 square feet of a mural at a rate of 2 square feet per hour, so after t hours the are painted by Naomi = 16.5 + 2 * t
Clair paints 7.5 square feet of the mural at a rate of 4 square feet per hour, so after t hours the are painted by Clair = 7.5 + 4 * t
We know that after hours the area painted by them are equal, so we have
16.5 + 2 * t = 7.5 + 4 * t
2 * t = 16.5 - 7.5 = 9
t = 4.5 hours.
So it will take 4.5 hours for Naomi and Clair to paint an equal number of square feet.
