Final answer:
It will take approximately 199.5045 minutes or about 3 hours and 19 minutes to pump out the water from the basement using two 50-gallon per minute pumps, after converting the volume of water to be pumped out from cubic feet to gallons.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate how long it will take to pump water out of a flooded basement using two 50-gallon per minute pumps, we need to determine the volume of water to be removed and divide it by the combined pumping rate. First, we convert the depth of the water from inches into feet, knowing that 1 foot equals 12 inches, so 16 inches is equivalent to 1.3333 feet.
Now, we can find the volume of water in the basement by multiplying the depth of the water by the floor area of the basement. The floor area is the product of two of its dimensions (since it's a rectangular shape), so 40 feet by 50 feet gives us an area of 2000 square feet. The volume of water to be pumped out is then 2000 square feet times 1.3333 feet, which equals 2666.6 cubic feet. To get this volume in gallons, we use the conversion factor that 1 cubic foot is approximately 7.48052 gallons, resulting in 19950.45 gallons.
Both pumps can move 100 gallons per minute combined (2 pumps × 50 gallons per minute). To find out how long it will take to pump out 19950.45 gallons, we divide the total volume by the pumping rate: 19950.45 gallons ÷ 100 gallons/minute = 199.5045 minutes. Therefore, it will take approximately 199.5045 minutes, or roughly 3 hours and 19 minutes, to pump out the water.