Question

harry earns a dollar an hour more than 5/4 the amount hamish earns per hour. harry earns per hour is 2$ less than 7/5 the amount hamish earns per hour. how much do each of them make an hour

Answer 1

Let
x-------> amount Harry earns 
y-------> amount Hamish earns 

x=(5/4)y+1------> (x-1)*4/5=y--------> equation 1
x=(7/5)y-2------> (x+2)*5/7=y--------> equation 2

equals 1 and 2
(x-1)*4/5=(x+2)*5/7--------> (4x-4)/5=(5x+10)/7-------> (4x-4)*7=(5x+10)*5
28x-28=25x+50-------> 28x-25x=50+28---------> 3x=78-----> x=26
y=(x-1)*4/5------> (26-1)*4/5-------> y=20
so

the answer is
Harry earns $26 an hour
Hamish earns  $20 an hour

Answer 2

Harry earns 26 and Hamish earns 20.

To solve this we need to write the following 2 equations. Y stands for Harry and M stands for Hamish.

y = 1.25m + 1
y= 1.4m -2

Now, set them equal to each other and solve for me.

1.25m + 1 = 1.4m - 2
3 = 0.15m
20 = m

Plug in 20 for m in either equations above and you will get 26 for Harry.