Quantitative Aptitude

Time & Work

Work is always considered as an entire value or one. There exists an analogy between
the time-speed-distance problems and work. Work based problems are more or less
related to time speed and distance.

Important Formulae:

1) Work from days:

If a person can do a work in 'n' days, then person's 1 day work = 1 / n

2) Days from work:

If a person's 1 day work is equal to 1/n , then the person can finish the work in 'n' days.
Total Work
3) Number of Days =
Work Done in 1 Day

Quick Tricks & Tips:

1) Ratio:

If 'A' is 'x' times as good a workman as 'B', then

a) Ratio of work done by A & B in equal time = x: 1
b) Ratio of time taken by A & B to complete the work = 1: x. This means that 'A' takes
(1/xth) time as that of 'B' to finish same amount of work.

For example,
if A is twice good a workman as B, then it means that

a) A does twice as much work as done by B in equal time i.e. A:B = 2:1
b) A finishes his work in half the time as B

2) Combined Work:

a) If 'A' and 'B' can finish the work in 'x' & 'y' days respectively, then
1
A's one day work =
x

1
B's one day work =
y

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1 1 (x + y)
(A + B)'s one day work = + =
x y xy

xy
Together, they finish the work in days.
(x + y)

b) If 'A', 'B' & 'C' can complete the work in x, y & z days respectively, then
1 1 1 (xy + yz + xz)
(A + B+ C) 's 1 day work = + + =
x y z xyz

xyz
Together, they complete the work in days.
xy + yz + xz

c) If A can do a work in 'x' days and if the same amount of work is done by A & B
together in 'y' days, then
1
A's one day work =
x

1
(A+B)'s one day work =
y

1 1 x–y
B's one day work = – =
y x xy

xy
So, 'B' alone will take days.
x–y

d) If A & B together perform some part of work in 'x' days, B & C together perform it
in 'y' days and C & Atogether perform it in 'z' days, then
1
(A + B)'s one day work =
x

1
(B + C)'s one day work =
y

1
(C + A)'s one day work =
z

1 1 1
+ + = 2(A+B+C)'s 1 one day work
x y z

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 Quantitative Aptitude

1 1 1
+ +
x y z
Now, we have at hand (A + B + C)'s one day work =
2

2
(A+ B+ C) will together complete the work in days
1 1 1
+ +
x y z

If A works alone, then deduct A's work from the total work of B & C to find the time
taken by A alone.

For A working alone, time required =A's work - (A+B+C)'s combined work

2
=
1 1 1
– +
x y z

2xyz
= days
[xy + yz – zx]

Similarly,
2xyz
- If B works alone, then time required =
(– xy + yz + zx)

2xyz
- If C works alone, then time required =
(xy – yz + zx)

Practice Questions:

1. Reema can complete a piece of work in 12 days while Seema can the same work in
18 days. If they both work together, then how many days will be required to finish the
work?
a. 6 days b. 7.2 days c. 9.5 days d. 12 days

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 Quantitative Aptitude

2. If 'A' completes a piece of work in 3 days, which 'B' completes it in 5 days and 'C'
takes 10 days to complete the same work. How long will they take to complete the
work , if they work together?
a. 1.5 days b. 4.5 days c. 7 days d. 9.8 days

3. Two painters 'P1' & 'P2' paint the bungalow in 3 days. If P1alone can paint the
bungalow in 12 days, in how many days can 'P2'' alone complete the same paint
work?
a. 4 days b. 6 days c. 9 days d. 12 days

4. A & B can make paintings in 6 days, B & C can can make those paintings in 10 days.
If A, B & C together can finish the work in 4 days, then A & C together will do it in
________ days.
a. 4 (2/7) days b. 1/ 8 days c. 2 (2/5) days d. 6 (3/ 8) days

5. Pooja is twice as efficient as Aarti and takes 90 days less than Aarti to complete the
job. Find the time in which they can finish the job together.
a. 30 days b. 45 days c. 60 days d. 90 days

6. Monika is twice as good as Sonika and together they complete a piece of work in 20
days. In how many days will Monika alone will finish the work?
a. 22 days b. 30 days c. 37 days d. 52 days

7. 6 men can pack 12 boxes in 7 days by working for 7 hours a day. In how many days
can 14 men pack 18 boxes if they work for 9 hours a day?
a. 3.5 days b. 5 days c. 7.5 days d. 12 days

8. 4 men and 5 boys can do a piece of work in 20 days while 5 men and 4 boys can do
the same work in 16 days. In how many days can 4 men and 3 boys do the same work?
a. 10 days b. 15 days c. 20 days d. 25 days

9. A can do a bit of work in 8 days, which B alone can do in 10 days in how long . In
how long both cooperating can do it?
a. 40/9 days b. 41/9 days c. 42/9 days d. 43/9 days
10. A and B together can dive a trench in 12 days, which an alone can dive in 30 days.
In how long B alone can burrow it?
a. 18 days b. 19 days c. 20 days d. 21 days

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11. If 10 men or 20 boys can make 260 mats in 20 days, then 8 men and 4 boys will
make how many mats?
a. 260 b. 240 c. 280 d. 520

12. 20 men or 24 women can complete a piece of work in 20 days. If 30 men and 12
women under-take to complete the work how much time will they take?
a. 10 days b. 12 days c. 15 days d. 16 days

13. 8 days are taken by one man and one woman together to complete the job. A man
alone can complete the work in 10 days. In how many days can one woman alone
complete the work?
a. 140/9 b. 30 c. 40 d. 42

14. 4 men and 6 women can complete a work in 8 days, while 3 men and 7 women can
complete it in 10 days. In how many days will 10 women complete it?
a.50 b. 45 c. 40 d. 35

15. A man, a woman and a boy can complete a work in 20 days, 30 days and 60 days
respectively. How many boys must assist 2 men and 8 women so as to complete the
work in 2 days?
a. 8 b. 12 c. 4 d. 6

16. 15 men can type 3240 pages in 6 days working 2 hours per day. How many men
would be required to type 5400 pages working 4 hours per day for 3 days?
a. 10 b.16 c. 12 d. 25

17. If 5 workers collect 60 kg wheat in 3 days, how many kilogram of wheat will 8
workers collect in 5 days?
a. 80 kg b. 100 kg c. 120 kg d. 160 kg

18. Raj can build a house alone in 16 days but Suraj alone can build it in 12 days. Raj
and Suraj work on alternate days. If Raj works on first day, the house will be built in
how many days?
a. 12.5 days b. 13(3/4) days c. 48/7 days d. 24/7 days

19. A can complete a work in 12 days and B can complete in 8 days. A works for 8
hours every day while B works for 10 hours every day. If A and B together start
working 8 hours per day, in how many days will they complete the work?
a. 8 days b. 60/11 days c. 39/12 days d. 15/8 days

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 Quantitative Aptitude

20. If Ram and Shyam together can build a house in 10 days; Ram and Arun can build it
together in 12 days and Shyam and Arun can build it in 15 days. Shyam, Ram and Arun
start working together. In how many days they build the house?
a. 6 days b. 4 days c. 8 days d. 12 days

21. P can do a job in 15 days. In how many days can P and Q together complete the job
if Q is twice as fast as P?
a. 3 days b. 5 days c. 2 days d. 6 days

22. Mahesh asked 32 men to build his house in 20 days. 80% of the work got
completed in just 12 days. So Mahesh removed some workers. Now how many
persons does he need to complete the remaining work in decided time?
a. 12 b. 20 c. 32 d. 16

23. A takes twice as much time as B or thrice as much time as C to finish a piece of
work; working together they can finish the work in 2 days. B can do the work alone in
a. 12 days b. 4 days c. 8 days d. 6 days

24. A can do 1/4th part of work in 10 days and B can do 40% work in 40 days and C can
do 1/3rd of the work in 13 days. Who will complete the work first?
a. A b. B c. C d. A and C both

25. A and B can finish a piece of work in 30 days, B and C can finish it in 15 days, C and
A in 10 days. Time taken by them together to do this work is?
a. 5 days b. 2(1/2) days c. 7(1/2) days d. 10 days

26. P and Q can do a work in 12 days. Q and R can do the same work in 16 days, and R
and P can do it in 24 days. Find the time in which P, Q and R can finish the work
together.
a. 9(3/4) days b. 10 days c. 11(1/4) days d. 10(2/3) days

27. P and Q together can do a work in 18 days. P alone can do the same work in 27
days. In how many days can Q alone do the same work?
a. 54 days b. 36 days c. 45 days d. 9 days

28. When P alone does a work, he takes 25 days more than the time taken by P and Q
working together to complete the work. But Q alone takes 9 days more than the time
taken by P and Q working together to complete the work. In what time, P and Q

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 Quantitative Aptitude

together finish this work?

a. 18 days b. 20 days c. 25 days d. 15 days

29. A can do a work in 3 days. B can do the same work in 6 days and C can do the same
work in 7 days. If they work together, in how many days will they take to complete
the work?
a. 11/10 Days b. 15/16 Days c. 14/9 Days d. 16/7 Days

30. Sita and Gita can do a work in 20 days and 25 days, respectively. Both begin
together but after a few days, Sita leaves. Then Gita finishes the remaining work in 10
days. After how many days did Sita leave?
a. 6(2/3) Days b. 5 Days c. 8(1/5) Days d. 10(2/5) Days

31. 35 men can make 70 toys in 8 days by working 8 hours a day. How many days will
56 men need to make 84 toys by working 12 hours every day?
a. 6 days b. 4 days c. 2 days d. 3 days

32. Meena can do a piece of work in 20 days. Kumar can do it in 30 days. They start
working together on the work but 10 days before the completion of the work, Kumar
leaves. In how many days does the total work get completed?
a. 20 days b. 12 days c. 6 days d. 16 days

33. If 24 men can finish a work in 10 days, then find the number of days required to
complete the same work by 30 men?
a. 8 days b. 6 days c. 3 days d. 7.5 days

34. If 3 men can do a work in 2 days and 4 boys can do the same work in 6 days, then
in how many days will the same work be completed by 8 men and 8 boys?
a. 2 days b. 3/5 Days c. 1.5 Days d. 3/4 Days

35. A can work 5 times faster than B and takes 60 days less than B to complete the
work. In how many days does A and B individually can complete the work?
a. A = 20 days; B = 100 days b. A = 20 days; B = 80 days
c. A = 15 days; B = 75 days d. A = 10 days; B = 50 days

36. P can do a work in 30 days. Q is 25% more efficient than P in completing the same
work. In how many days will Q complete the work?
a. 37.5 days b. 22.5 days c. 20 days d. 24 days

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 Quantitative Aptitude

37. If 12 men or 16 women can do a work in 172 days, how long will 21 men and 15
women to do the same work?
a. 64 days b. 60 days c. 86 days d. 75 days

38. Ramesh can complete a work in 12 days, working 7 hours a day. Suresh can
complete the same work in 8 days, working 9 hours a day. If Ramesh and Suresh work
together working 7 hours a day, in how many days can they complete the work?
a. 7 * 3 / 23 b. 5 * 7 / 13 c. 6 * 5 / 13 d. 6 * 6 / 11

39. An employer pays Rs. 30 for each day a worker works, and forfeits Rs. 5 for each
day he is idle. At the end of 60 days, a worker gets Rs. 500. For how many days did the
worker remain idle?
a. 35 b. 48 c. 52 d. 58

40. A man can do a piece of work in 4 days, but with the help of his daughter, he can
do it in 3 days. In what time can his daughter do it alone?
a. 6 ½ days b. 7 days c. 9 ½ days d. 12 days

41. P and Q together can complete a piece of work in 4 days. If P alone can complete
the same work in 20 days, in how many days can Q alone complete that work?
a. 8 b. 7 c. 4 d. 5

42. If 10 bulls can plough 20 identical fields in 3 days working 10 hours a day, then in
how many days can 30 bulls plough 32 same identical fields working 8 hours a day?
a. 2 b. 4 c. 8 d. 10

43. A can build a wall in the same time in which B and C together can do it. If A and B
together could do it in 25 days and C alone in 35 days, in what time could B alone do
it?
a. 175 days b. 100 days c. 90 days d. None of these

44. A pack of people can complete a certain amount of work in 12 days. Two times the
same number of persons will complete half of the work in?
a. 12 days b. 3 days c. 4 days d. 6 days

45. 12 men and 18 boys working 7.5 minutes an hour complete a particular piece of
work in 60 hours. If a boy’s work is half as efficient as a man’s work, how many boys
will be needed to help 21 men to achieve twice the work in 50 hours working 9
minutes in an hour.
a. 42 b. 46 c. 48 d. 38

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 Quantitative Aptitude

46. A car consumes 210 liters of petrol weekly. For how many days will 1470 liters of
petrol be sufficient?
a. 48 b. 49 c. 50 d. 52

47. 5/8th of a job is completed in 10 days. If a person works at the same pace, how
many days will he take to complete the job?
a. 4 b. 5 c. 6 d. 7

48. A, B and C can all together do piece of work in 10 days, in which B takes three
times as long as A and C together do the work and C takes twice as long as A and B
together take to do the work. In how many days B can alone do the work?
a. 35 days b. 33 days c. 43 days d. 40 days

49. 20 men can complete a work in 14 days and 20 women can complete the same
work in 18 days. 7 men and 9 women started the work. After working for some days,
they were replaced by 10 men and 10 women who complete the remaining work in 9
days. How much work was completed by initially employed men and women?
a. 2/5 b. 3/7 c. 4/7 d. 3/8

50. A, B and C can alone complete a work in 10, 12 and 15 days respectively. A and C
started the work and after working for 4 days, A left and B joined. In how many days
the total work was completed?
a. 6 5/9 days b. 6 2/9 days c. 6 days d. 5 4/9 days

Pipes and Cisterns

51. A cistern has two taps attached to it. Tap B can empty the cistern in 45 minutes.
But Tap A can fill the cistern in just 30 minutes. Rohit started both taps unknowingly
but realized his mistake after 30 minutes. He immediately closed Tap B. Now after
this, in how much time will the cistern be filled?
a. 30 min b. 45 min c. 15 min d. 20 min

52. Pipe R can empty a full tank in 30 hours. But two pipes P and Q can fill a tank in 15
hours and 10 hours respectively. Ram unknowingly opened all three taps. After 2
hours Shyam realized it and closed Pipe R. Due to this mistake how much time more
would it take to fill the tank?
a. 18 min b. 24 min c. 1 hr 20 min d. 2 hrs 15 min

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 Quantitative Aptitude

53. A cistern is filled by Pipe A and Pipe B together in 2.4 hours. Pipe A alone can fill
the cistern at the rate of 100 litres per hour. Pipe B alone can fill the cistern in 4 hours.
What is the capacity of the cistern?
a. 1200 litres b. 600 litres c. 1000 litres d. 500 litres

54. There is a leak at the bottom of a cistern. Due to this it takes 8 hours to fill the
cistern. Had there not been a leak, it would take one hour less to fill the cistern. How
much time does it take for the leak to completely empty the cistern?
a. 48 hrs b. 55(1/3) hrs c. 56 hrs d. 15 hrs

55. Tap P alone fills a cistern in 2 hours; while tap Q alone fills the same cistern in 3
hours. A new tap R is attached to the bottom of the cistern which can empty the
completely filled cistern in 6 hours. Sunny started all three taps together at 9am.
When will the tank be full?
a. 10.30 am b. 11.15 am c. 12 pm d. 9.45 am

56. A cistern can be filled in 6 hours by taps P and Q. If tap R also joins them, then
cistern is filled in 5 hours. Tap P can fill the cistern at twice the rate of tap Q. In what
time tap Q and R fill the cistern?
a. 9.75 hrs b. 10. 90 hrs c. 11.25 hrs d. 12.90 hrs

57. A cistern is normally filled with water in 10 hours but takes 5 hours longer to fill
because of a leak in its bottom. If the cistern is full, the leak will empty the cistern in
a. 20 hrs b. 40 hrs c. 50 hrs d. 30 hrs

58. A tank has three taps P, Q and R. Taps P and Q can fill the tank in 1.5 and 2 hours,
respectively. Tap R can empty the completely filled tank in just half hour. Tap P is
opened at 8 am, tap Q is opened at 9am and tap R is opened at 10 am. At what exact
time will the tank be empty?
a. 12 pm b. 1.25 pm c. 12.12 pm d. 12.28 pm

59. A pipe can fill a tank in 6 hours. Another pipe can empty the tank in 12 hours. If
both pipes are opened simultaneously, the part of tank filled by both pipes in 1 hour
is?
a. 1/9 th part b. 1/6 th part c. 1/12 th part d. 1/3 rd part

60. A tap having diameter 'd' can empty a tank in 84 min. How long another tap having
diameter '2d' take to empty the same tank?
a. 21 min b. 42 min c. 168 min d. 28 min

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 Quantitative Aptitude

61. Pipe A can fill a tank 5 times faster than Pipe B and takes 32 minutes less than Pipe
B to fill the tank. If both the pipes are opened together, then in how much time the
tank would be full?
a. 32/3 min b. 32/5 min c. 20/3 min d. 5/32 min

62. Two pipes M and N can fill a tank in 22.5 and 15 minutes, respectively. If both the
pipes are opened simultaneously, after how much time should N be closed so that the
tank is full in 18 minutes?
a. 4 min b. 3 min c. 4.5 min d. 2.5 min

63. Two pipes M and N are opened together to fill a tank. Both the pipes fill the tank
in time X minutes. When M alone is filling the tank, it takes 9 minutes more time than
X to fill the tank. In a similar manner N takes 16 minutes more time than X to fill the
tank. What is the value of X?
a. 12 min b. 7 min c. 25 min d. 144 min

64. Pipe P can fill a tank in 38 hours. Pipe Q alone can fill it in 19 hours. Pipe R can
empty the full tank in 133 hours. If all the pipes are opened together, how much time
will be needed to make the tank full?
a. 28 hrs b. 95 hrs c. 19 hrs d. 14 hrs

65. Two pipes M and N can fill a pool in 40 minutes and 60 minutes, respectively. The
entire pool can completely be emptied by another pipe P in 30 minutes. M, N and P
are opened alternatively and each is kept open for just 1 minute. In how much time
will the pool be filled?
a. 180 min b. 167 min c. 177 min d. 165 min

66. A tap can fill a tub in 24 hours. Due to a leak at the bottom of the tub, the tap fills
the tub in 36 hours. If the tub is full, how much time will the leak take to empty it?
a. 72 hrs b. 48 hrs c. 60 hrs d. 96 hrs

67. 3 pipes have diameters 2 cms, 3 cms and 4 cms. The ratio of water flowing through
them is equal to ratio of the square of their diameters. The biggest pipe when open
alone, can fill the entire pool in just 126 minutes. When all the pipes are opened
together, the pool would be filled in how much time?
a. 2016/29 min b. 2111/126 min c. 215/63 min d. 155 min

68. Two pipes M and N can fill a tank in 22 hours and 33 hours respectively. In how
much time will the tank be full, if both the pipes are opened simultaneously?
a. 18 hrs b. 19/22 hrs c. 1(1/11) hrs d. 13(1/5) hrs

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 Quantitative Aptitude

69. A water tank has two pipes to fill water in it. One of the pipes fills water at the
rate of 100 litres per hour. The tank is filled by the other pipe in 6 hours and by both
pipes together in 4.2 hours. What is the capacity of the tank in litres ?
a. 860 litre b. 980 litre c. 1120 litre d. 1400 litre

70. Pipe P can fill a tank in 4 hours, pipe Q in 8 hours and pipe R in 24 hours. If all the
pipes are open, in how many hours will the tank be filled?
a. 2 hrs b. 2.4 hrs c. 3 hrs d. 3.5 hrs

71. Two pipes P and Q can fill a tank in 10 hours and 14 hours respectively. If both
pipes are opened simultaneously, how much time will be taken to fill the tank?
a. 4 hrs 20 min b. 5 hrs 49 min c. 3 hrs 50 min d. 3 hrs 22 min

72. A inlet pipe can fill a tank in 12 hours and an outlet pipe can empty the tank in 16
hours. If both the pipes are opened simultaneously, find the time taken to fill the
tank.
a. 36 hrs b. 12 hrs c. 4 hrs d. 48 hrs

73. If pipe A can fill the tank in 45 minutes and pipe B in 30 minutes, find the time to
fill the tank if both the pipes are opened together.
a. 12 min b. 20 min c. 18 min d. 15 min

74. If a pipe can fill a tank in 6 hours, find the part of tank it fills in one hour.
a. 1/6 b. 2/3 c. ½ d. None of these

75. A leak at the bottom of the tank can empty the tank in 5 hours, while an inlet pipe
can fill the same tank at the rate of 6 litres per minute. When the tank is full, the inlet
is opened and the tank gets empty in 8 hours due to the leakage. Find the capacity of
the tank.
a. 1800 litres b. 3600 litres c. 4800 litres d. 5760 litres

76. Pipes A and B fill a tank in 5 and 6 hours respectively. Pipe C empties the tank in 12
hours, if you open all the three pipes together this tank will be filled in?
a. 3 9/17 hrs b. 4.5 hrs c. 1.25 hrs d. 4 7/17 hrs

77. Two pipes A and B can fill a tank in 12 and 24 minutes respectively. If both the
pipes are used together, how long will it take to fill the tank?
a. 9 min b. 8 min c. 4 min d. 6 min

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 Quantitative Aptitude

78. Two pipes A and B can fill a cistern in 37.5 minutes and 45 minutes respectively.
This cistern will be filled in half an hour if both the pipes are opened together initially
and pipe B is then turned off after X minutes. What is X?
a. 10 min b. 15 min c. 12 min d. 9 min

79. Two pipes A and B can fill a tank in 24 minutes and 32 minutes respectively. If both
the pipes are opened simultaneously, after how much time should B be closed so that
the tank is full in 18 minutes?
a. 5 min b. 6 min c. 8 min d. 9 min

80. A pipe is 30 m long and is 45% longer than another pipe. Find the length of the
other pipe.
a. 20.68 b. 20 c. 20.12 d. 20.5

81. A cistern can be filled in 9 hours but it takes 10 hours due to a leak in its bottom. If
the cistern is full, then the time that the leak will take to empty it, is:
a. 60 hrs b. 70 hrs c. 80 hrs d. 90 hrs

82. Bucket P has thrice the capacity as bucket Q. It takes 60 turns for bucket P to fill
the empty drum. How many turns it will take for both the buckets P and Q, having
each turn together to fill the empty drum?
a. 30 b. 40 c. 45 d.90

83. A tank can be filled by a tap in 20 minutes and by another tap in 60 minutes. Both
the taps are kept open for 10 minutes and then the first tap is shut off. After this, the
tank will be completely filled in:
a. 10 min b. 12 min c. 15 min d. 20 min

84. A water tank has three taps A, B and C. A fills four buckets in 24 minutes, B fills 8
buckets in 1 hour and C fills 2 buckets in 20 minutes. If all the taps are opened
together, a full tank is emptied in 2 hours. If a bucket can hold 5 liters of water, what
is the capacity of the tank?

a. 120 liters b. 240 liters c. 180 liters d. 60 liters

85. There is a leak in the bottom of the tank. This leak can empty a full tank in 8 hours.
When the tank is full, a tap is opened into the tank which admit 6 liters per hour and
the tank is now emptied in 12 hours. What is the capacity of the tank?

a. 8.8 liters b. 36 liters c. 144 liters d. Cannot be determined

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 Quantitative Aptitude

86. Three small pumps and one large pump are filling a tank. Each of the three small
pump works at 2/3 of the rate of the large pump. If all four pumps work at the same
time, they should fill the tank in what fraction of the time that it would have taken the
large pump alone?

a. 4/7 b. 1/3 c. 2/3 d. ¾

87. A tank is fitted with 8 pipes, some of which that fill the tank and others that empty
the tank. Each of the pipes that fills the tank fills it in 8 hours, while each of those that
empty the tank empties it in 6 hours. If all the pipes are kept open when the tank is
full, it will take 6 hours to drain the tank. How many of these are fill pipes?

a. 2 b. 4 c. 6 d. 5

88. Pipe A usually fills a tank in 2 hours. On account of a leak at the bottom of the
tank, it takes pipe A 30 more minutes to fill the tank. How long will the leak take to
empty a full tank if pipe A is shut?

a. 2 hrs 30 min b. 5 hrs c. 4 hrs d. 10 hrs

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