Question

A large tank of sterile water holds 200 gallons . It is leaking at an unknown rate. At 4:30 pm the tank had 137 gallons and at 7:00 pm the tank had 115 gallons. Assuming the tank was full when the leak began , write a function to estimate how much water is in the tank. now find the time at which the tank began leaking and the time at which the tank will be empty.

Answer 1

1. 8.8 gallons per hour

2. 9:20 am

3. 8:04 am

Explanation:

The tank lost 22 gallons of water in 150 minutes (2.5 hours)

This is a rate of 0.14666 gallons per minute or 8.8 gallons per hour

The function: 200 - 0.147(x)

So at 4:30 pm, the tank lost 63 gallons. So at a rate of 8.8 gallons per hour, that means it has been leaking for 7.16 (.16 hours = 9.6 minutes) hours.

So it has been leaking since 9:20 am.

In order for it to completely empty, it needs to drain 115 gallons of water.

At a rate of 8.8 gallons per hour, that means it needs 13.068 hours or 13 hours and 4 minutes.

So it will be empty at 8:04 am.