Problem 6.5. In the park, paths are laid out as shown in the figure. Two workers started to asphalt them, starting simultaneously from point $A$. They lay asphalt at constant speeds: the first on the section $A-B-C$, the second on the section $A-D-E-F-C$. In the end, they finished the work simultaneously, spending 9 hours on it. It is known that the second works 1.2 times faster than the first. How many minutes did the second spend laying asphalt on the section $D E$?

![](https://cdn.mathpix.com/cropped/2024_05_06_4984b677816e04f7f1c9g-16.jpg?height=259&width=299&top_left_y=1340&top_left_x=577)
Answer: 45.

Solution. Let the line $A D$ intersect the line $C F$ at point $G$, as shown in the figure below. Since $A B C G$ and $D E F G$ are rectangles, we have $A B=C G, B C=A G, E F=D G$ and $D E=F G$.

![](https://cdn.mathpix.com/cropped/2024_05_06_4984b677816e04f7f1c9g-17.jpg?height=252&width=301&top_left_y=96&top_left_x=576)

The second worker works 1.2 times faster than the first, and the working time was the same, so the second worker laid 1.2 times more asphalt than the first. Let the first worker lay $x=A B+B C$ asphalt on the section $A-B-C$, then the second worker on the section $A-D-E-F-C$ laid

$$
\begin{aligned}
1.2 x & =A D+D E+E F+F G+G C=(A D+E F+C G)+(D E+F G)= \\
& =(B C+A B)+(D E+D E)=x+2 D E
\end{aligned}
$$

From this, we find that $D E=0.1 x$, which is 12 times less than the total amount of asphalt on the second section. Therefore, the second worker spent 12 times less time on the section $D E$ than on his entire path. He worked a total of $9 \cdot 60=540$ minutes, so he spent $\frac{540}{12}=45$ minutes on $D E$.