Multiple choice

Three pipes A, B and C are fixed to fill a tank in 16/7 hours with uniform flow. After working at it together for 2 hours, C is closed because of the leak in the pipe. A and B can fill the remaining part in 1/3 hours. The number of hours taken by C alone to fill the tank is

  1. 4

  2. 8

  3. 16

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
AI explanation

The combined rate of A, B, and C is 7/16 of the tank per hour, so in 2 hours they fill 14/16 of the tank. The remaining 2/16 of the tank is filled by A and B in 1/3 hours, making their combined rate (2/16) / (1/3) = 3/8 of the tank per hour. Subtracting this from the total rate gives C's rate as 7/16 - 3/8 = 1/16 of the tank per hour. Consequently, C alone takes 16 hours to fill the tank.

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