Brandon can shovel his sidewalk in 8 minutes, while his brother can shovel the walk in 12 minutes. I

[math_celebrity]

Brandon can shovel his sidewalk in 8 minutes, while his brother can shovel the walk in 12 minutes. If they work together, how long will it take them to shovel the sidewalk?

Set up unit rates:

• Brandon can shovel 1/8 of a sidewalk per minute
• His brother can shovel 1/12 of a sidewalk per minute

Together, they can shovel:
1/8 + 1/12 = 5/24 of a sidewalk per minute
1 minute = 60 seconds

5/24 / 60 seconds = 1/x seconds
5/24 * 60 = 1/x
5/1440 = 1/x

Using our proportion calculator, we get:
x = 288

288/60 = 4 minutes and 48 seconds