Tom can whitewash a fence at a rate of six square feet per minute. huck can whitewash a fence at a rate of ten square feet per minute. tom starts painting her fence, and five minutes later, huck starts to tom. when they finish painting the fence, each person has painted half of the fence. how many square feet is the fence?

H = Huck = 10 square feet a minute
T = Tom = 6 square feet a minute.

The "distances" they have to go are equal since both do the same amount.
R_Tom * time_tom = R_Huck * time huck

6* (t) = 10 * (t - 5)  
6t = 10t - 50 Add 50 to both sides
6t + 50 = 10t Subtract 6t from both sides.
50 = 4t Divide by 4
50/4 = t
12.5 = t

This means that tom was working for 12.5 minutes. He does 6 square feet a minute The amount of fence he does is 12.5 * 6 = 75 square feet.

Since Huck does the same amount the total is 75 * 2 = 150 square feet total.