January 19th, 2010

How do I solve this swimming pool word problem?

Rogue asked:


A hose can fill a swimming pool in 18 hours. Another hose needs 3 more hours to fill the pool than the two hoses combined. How long would it take the second hose to fill the pool?
I think maybe it turns into a quadratic problem but I’m really not sure. Thank you for your help!

Cherie
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 3:43 am and is filed under Swimming Pool. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “How do I solve this swimming pool word problem?”

  1. kuroyuli Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 3:53 am

    Corene

    Define:
    Total workload = 1
    A’s productivity = 1/18
    B’s productivity = b
    Necessary time to fill by both = x

    (x+3)b=1
    b=1/(x+3)

    3b=(1/18)x
    b=x/54

    1/(x+3)=x/54
    x(x+3)=54
    x=6

    b=1/9
    Ans. 9 hours

  2. Ravindra P Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 am

    Carlotta

    If it takes x hrs for both pipes to fill, then
    1/18 + 1/(x+3) = 1/x => 1/18 = 1/x - 1/(x+3) = 3/(x^2 + 3x)
    => x^2 + 3x - 54 = 0 => x = 6,
    x+3 = time by 2nd hose to fill pipe = 9 hrs.