Question

Two identical pumps fill up a water reservoir in 10 minutes. If one of the pumps is removed, how long will it take to fill up the reservoir?

1) 5 minutes
2) 10 minutes
3) 15 minutes
4) 20 minutes

Answer 1

If two identical pumps fill a reservoir in 10 minutes, removing one pump would double the filling time. Therefore, it would take one pump 20 minutes to fill the reservoir.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking how long it will take for one pump to fill up the water reservoir if two identical pumps can fill it in 10 minutes. To solve this, we can consider the rate at which the pumps work. If two pumps working together take 10 minutes to fill the reservoir, one pump alone will take twice as long since its filling capacity is halved when the other pump is removed. Therefore, it will take one pump 20 minutes to fill the water reservoir on its own.