Problem

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.

Answer

Expert–verified
Hide Steps
Answer

Final Answer: \(\boxed{4.5}\)

Steps

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: \(\boxed{4.5}\)

link_gpt