vigneshpandi wrote:
An outlet pipe empties a tank which is full in 10 hours. If the inlet pipe is kept open, which lets water in at the rate of 8 litres/min then outlet pipe would take 6 hours longer. Find the capacity of the tank.
A. 8600 litres
B. 200 litres
C. 12800 litres
D. 11200 litres
E. 13200 litres
We can let the capacity of the tank = x liters.
Since it takes 10 hours for the pipe to empty the tank, the rate of the outlet pump is x/10 litres/hour.
The rate of the inlet pipe is 8 litres/min, or 8 x 60 = 480 litres/hour.
However, if the inlet pipe were left open, then it would take 16 hours to empty the tank.
Using the work formula, work = rate x time, we see that the work of the outlet pipe is (x/10)(16) = 16x/10 = 8x/5 and the work of the inlet pipe is (480)(16) = 7680.
We see that there are two actions working against each other: the inlet pipe is letting water in, but the outlet pipe is letting water out. The net amount of work done (emptying the tank of x litres of water) is the difference in these two actions. We can create the following equation to determine x:
8x/5 - 7680 = x
Multiplying the entire equation by 5, we have:
8x - 38,400 = 5x
3x = 38,400
x = 12,800
Answer: C
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