Apparent Magnitude of Binary Star System

[Gammage]

I am having trouble understanding this problem. It has several parts describing a binary star system. The last part ask for the apparent magnitude of the combined light from both stars, if they were viewed as a single point. I guess my first thought was to add them, but I'm worried because apparent magnitude is a logarithmic scale. Am I overthinking this one?

Thanks

 

[tiny-tim]

Hi Gammage!

Yes, you're right to worry …

brightness is additive, but magnitude isn't.