Pipes and Cisterns Questions

Multiple choice
  1. $10$
  2. $60$
  3. $25$
  4. $45$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Pipe A fills 1/4 of the tank in 5 hours, so it fills the whole tank in 20 hours. Its rate is 1/20 tank/hour. Pipe B empties the tank in 30 hours, so its rate is -1/30 tank/hour. Combined rate = 1/20 - 1/30 = (3-2)/60 = 1/60. The tank is filled in 60 hours.

Multiple choice
  1. $11\displaystyle\frac { 1 }{ 9 }$ min
  2. $10\displaystyle\frac { 1 }{ 9 }$ min
  3. $11\displaystyle\frac { 6 }{ 9 }$ min
  4. $11\displaystyle\frac { 2 }{ 9 }$ min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The combined rate of the two pipes is 1/20 + 1/25 = 5/100 + 4/100 = 9/100 tanks per minute. The time taken to fill the cistern is the reciprocal of the rate: 100/9 minutes, which is 11 and 1/9 minutes.

Multiple choice
  1. $7$ min
  2. $9$ min
  3. $13$ min
  4. $23$ min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Let the capacity be 90 units. Tap A fills 9 units/min and Tap B fills 6 units/min. Together they fill 15 units/min. With the waste pipe, they fill 90/18 = 5 units/min. The waste pipe must remove 15 - 5 = 10 units/min, so it empties the cistern in 90/10 = 9 minutes.

Multiple choice
  1. 1 hours 15 min

  2. 2 hours 30 min

  3. 3 hours 15 min

  4. 4 hours 10 min

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Rate A = 1/3, Rate B = 1/(3.75) = 1/(15/4) = 4/15. Rate C = -1. Net rate = 1/3 + 4/15 - 1 = 5/15 + 4/15 - 15/15 = -6/15 = -2/5. The tank is half-filled (1/2). Time to empty = (1/2) / (2/5) = 5/4 hours = 1 hour 15 minutes.

Multiple choice
  1. $\displaystyle23\frac{1}{2}$min
  2. $\displaystyle25\frac{2}{3}$min
  3. $\displaystyle27\frac{1}{3}$min
  4. $\displaystyle28\frac{2}{3}$min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Multiple choice
  1. $60$ min
  2. $45$ min
  3. $40$ min
  4. $30$ min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Let the faster pipe take x minutes. The slower takes x+20. (1/x) + 1/(x+20) = 1/24. (2x+20)/(x(x+20)) = 1/24. 48x + 480 = x^2 + 20x. x^2 - 28x - 480 = 0. (x-40)(x+12) = 0. So x = 40 minutes.

Multiple choice
  1. $8$ min
  2. $3$ min
  3. $5.6$ min
  4. $4.5$ min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Multiple choice
  1. $167$ min
  2. $160$ min
  3. $166$ min
  4. $164$ min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In each three-minute cycle, pipes A, B, and C contribute 1/20 + 1/30 - 1/15 = 1/60 of the cistern. After 55 complete cycles, 165 minutes have passed and 1/12 remains. Pipe A fills this remainder in 2.5 minutes, so the cistern fills during the next cycle at 167.5 minutes, making 167 minutes the intended option under whole-minute timing.

Multiple choice
  1. $6$ min
  2. $8$ min
  3. $10$ min
  4. $12$ min
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Pipe A fills 1/30 per min, Pipe B fills 1/40 per min. Let B be open for x minutes. Then (1/30 + 1/40) * x + (1/30) * (24-x) = 1. Solving (7/120) * x + (24-x)/30 = 1, multiplying by 120 gives 7x + 4(24-x) = 120, so 3x + 96 = 120, 3x = 24, x = 8.

Multiple choice
  1. $10\ hours$
  2. $6\ hours$
  3. $16\ hours$
  4. $5\ hours$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Let rates be r1, r2, r3. r1+r2 = r3. r2 = r1 - 5 (time is 5 hours faster, so rate is higher, wait: time T2 = T1 - 5). Let T3 = x. T2 = x + 4. T1 = T2 + 5 = x + 9. 1/(x+9) + 1/(x+4) = 1/x. Solving x^2 - 5x - 36 = 0 gives (x-9)(x+4)=0. x=9 is not matching options. Re-reading: 'second pipe fills 5 hours faster than first' (T2 = T1 - 5) and '4 hours slower than third' (T2 = T3 + 4). So T3 = T2 - 4. T1 = T2 + 5. 1/(T2+5) + 1/T2 = 1/(T2-4). Solving leads to T2=10, T3=6.