Question

A garden hose can fill a swimming pool in 4 days and a larger hose can fill the pool in 2 days. How long will it take to fill the pool if both the hoses are used?

Answer 1

The garden house takes 4 days, so that means it fills 1/4 of the pool per day ( 1/4 x 4 days = 1)

The larger hose takes 2 days, so this means it fills 1/2 the pool per day ( 1/2 x 2 days = 1)

Using both the garden hose and larger hose means 1/4 + 1/2 = 3/4 of the pool is filled in one day.

Now we need to find X ( the number of days to completely fill the pool.

Multiply the amount per day by the number of days to equal 1 ( 1 pool):

3/4 * x = 1

To solve for x, multiply both sides of the equation by the reciprocal of 3/4, which is 4/3:

x = 4/3 *1

x = 4/3 = 1 and 1/3 days.