It takes an older pump twice as long to drain a certain pool as it does a newer pump. Working together, it takes the two pumps 3 hours to drain the pool. How long will it take the newer pump to drain the pool working alone?
Do not do any rounding.
Final Answer: \(\boxed{4.5}\)
Step 1 :Let's denote the time it takes for the newer pump to drain the pool as x (in hours). Then, the older pump takes 2x hours to drain the pool.
Step 2 :Since the pumps are working together to drain the pool in 3 hours, we can say that the sum of their rates equals 1 pool per 3 hours.
Step 3 :The rate of the newer pump is \(\frac{1}{x}\) pools per hour and the rate of the older pump is \(\frac{1}{2x}\) pools per hour.
Step 4 :So, we can set up the equation: \(\frac{1}{x} + \frac{1}{2x} = \frac{1}{3}\).
Step 5 :We can solve this equation to find the value of x.
Step 6 :The solution to the equation is 4.5, which means it takes the newer pump 4.5 hours to drain the pool alone.
Step 7 :Final Answer: \(\boxed{4.5}\)