Final answer:
It would take 1137.5 hours to remove 260 gallons of water with a pump that removes 0.8 gallons every 3.5 hours.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many hours it would take for a pump to remove 260 gallons of water, you can set up a proportion based on the given rate of water removal. If the pump removes 0.8 gallons in 3.5 hours, you can calculate the number of hours needed for 260 gallons using a simple ratio.
Let x be the number of hours it takes to pump out 260 gallons. Then we can write the proportion as:
0.8 gallons / 3.5 hours = 260 gallons / x hours
By cross-multiplying and solving for x, we get:
x = 260 gallons × 3.5 hours / 0.8 gallons
x = 1137.5 hours
Therefore, it would take 1137.5 hours to pump out 260 gallons of water using the given pump.