If it takes 6 florist's assistants 3 hours to pack 12 boxes of flowers, how fast can 16 assistants pack 16 boxes?

Question

A large water tank has two inlet pipes (a large one and a small one) and one outlet pipe. It takes 3 hours to fill the tank with the large inlet pipe. On the other hand, it takes 6 hours to fill the tank with the small inlet pipe. The outlet pipe allows the full tank to be emptied in 9 hours.

What fraction of the tank (initially empty) will be filled in 0.64 hours if all three pipes are in operation? Give your answer to two decimal places (e.g., 0.25, 0.5, or 0.75).

Answer 1

1.5 hrs

---

6 assistants- 3 hours - 12 boxes => 1 assistant- 3 hours - 2 boxes =>16 assistants- 3 hours - 32 boxes => 16 assistants- 1.5 hours - 16 boxes
or
6 assistants- 3 hours - 12 boxes => 1 assistant- 3 hours - 2 boxes => 1 assistant- 1.5 hours - 1 box => 16 assistant- 1.5 hours - 16 boxes