The student's question concerns calculating the volume of water originally in the tank and how long it would take to drain it completely, using the given rate of the pump. We found that the original volume of the tank was 150 gallons, and it would take 6.25 hours to drain completely.
The student is asking about a problem related to rate, time, and volume in an applied context – specifically, a situation in which an aquarium is draining water from a fish tank using a pump.
The question tells us that the pump can drain 24 gallons of water per hour. After three hours, there are 78 gallons left in the tank. To solve this, we'll first calculate the total amount of water that was in the tank before draining began and then determine the amount of time it would take to drain the tank completely at the given rate.
Step-by-step solution:
- Calculate the total volume of water drained in three hours: 24 gallons/hour x 3 hours = 72 gallons.
- Add the remaining volume to the drained volume to find the original volume: 72 gallons + 78 gallons = 150 gallons (the original volume of the tank).
- Determine the time it takes to drain the entire tank: 150 gallons / 24 gallons/hour = 6.25 hours.