Jason is making pasta. He fills the pot with 41 degree water. Each minute the temperature of the water increases by 3 degrees. Once the water reaches 212 degrees and is boiling, Jason needs to cook his pasta for 12 minutes. Then it will take him 1/3 that long to mix the pasta with the sauce and make a salad. How many minutes does it take Jason to cook dinner?
Thoughts? Step-by-step reasoning:
First find how many degrees the temperature of the water needs to increase: 212 degrees - 41 degrees = 171 degrees. Then divide that amount by the number of degrees the water temperature increases each minute to find how long it takes the water to boil: 171 degrees / 3 degrees / minute = 57 minutes. Now figure out how long it takes to mix the pasta and make salad by dividing the pasta cook time by 3: 12 minutes / 3 = 4 minutes. Now add the boiling time, cook time, and mixing time to find the total time it takes to make dinner: 57 minutes + 4 minutes + 12 minutes = 73 minutes.
Thus, the answer is 73.