PIPES & CISTERNS
Pipes & Cisterns
• Problems related to pipes & cisterns are similar to those of
time and work but with a slight difference of conceptual
agents like inlets & outletsBasic Terms:
Inlet: A pipe which is used to fill up the tank,cistern or
reservoir is known as 'Inlet'. This type of nature
indicates 'plus' or 'positive type' of work done.
Outlet: A pipe which is used to empty the tank, cistern or
reservoir is known as 'Outlet'. This type of nature
indicates 'minus' or 'negative type' type of work done.
Important Formulae:
1) If a pipe requires 'x' hours to fill up the tank, then part filled in 1 hr = 1/x
2) If a pipe requires 'y' hours to empty the full tank, then part emptied in 1 hr = 1/y
3) Net Work Done = (Sum of work done by inlets) - (Sum of work done by outlets)
4) Suppose that one pipe takes 'x' hours to fill up the tank and the another pipe takes 'y' hours to
empty the full tank, then, on opening both the pipes, there are 2 possible conditions:
For condition I: x < y, Net part filled in 1 hr = 1/x – 1/y
For condition II: x > y, Net part emptied in 1 hr = 1/y – 1/x
Quick Tricks & Tips:
1) If two pipes take 'x' & 'y' hrs respectively to fill the
tank and the third pipe takes 'z' hrs to empty the tank
and all of them are opened together, then
The net part filled in 1hr = 1/x + 1/y – 1/z
Hence,
The time taken to fill the tank = 1/(1/x) + (1/y) + (1/z)
• Consider a pipe fills the tank in 'x' hrs. If there is a leakage in the
bottom, the tank is filled in 'y' hrs.
If the tank is full, the time taken by the leak to empty the tank
= 1/(1/x – 1/y) hrs
• Suppose that pipe 'A' fills the tank as fast as the other pipe 'B'. If
pipe 'B' (slower) & pipe 'A' (faster) take 'x' min & 'x/n' min
respectively to fill up an empty tank together, then
Part of the tank filled in 1 hr = n + 1/x
Pipes and Cisterns
Two pipes can fill a tank in 20 and 24 minutes respectively
and a waste pipe can empty 3 gallons per minute. All the
three pipes working together can fill the tank in 15 minutes.
The capacity of the tank is:
A. 60 gallons
B. 100 gallons
C. 120 gallons
D. 180 gallons
Pipes and Cisterns
A tank is filled in 5 hours by three pipes A, B and C.
The pipe C is twice as fast as B and B is twice as
fast as A. How much time will pipe A alone take to
fill the tank?
A. 20 hours
B. 25 hours
C. 35 hours
D. cannot be determined
Pipes and Cisterns
Two pipes A and B together can fill a cistern in 4 hours.
Had they been opened separately, then B would have
taken 6 hours more than A to fill the cistern. How much
time will be taken by A to fill the cistern separately?
A. 1 hour
B. 2 hours
C. 6 hours
D. 8 hours
Q1.
Two pipes A and B can fill a tank in 20 and 30 minutes
respectively. If both the pipes are used together, then how
long will it take to fill the tank?
A. 12 min
B. 15 min
C. 25 min
D. 50 min
Q2.
Two pipes A and B can fill a tank in 15 minutes and 20
minutes respectively. Both the pipes are opened together
but after 4 minutes, pipe A is turned off. What is the total
time required to fill the tank?
A. 10 min. 20 sec.
B. 11 min. 45 sec.
C. 12 min. 30 sec.
D. 14 min. 40 sec
Q3.
One pipe can fill a tank three times as fast as another pipe.
If together the two pipes can fill the tank in 36 minutes,
then the slower pipe alone will be able to fill the tank in
A. 81 min
B. 108 min
C. 144 min
D. 192 min
Q4.
A large tanker can be filled by two pipes A and B in 60
minutes and 40 minutes respectively. How many minutes
will it take to fill the tanker from empty state if B is used
for half the time and A and B fill it together for the other
half?
A. 15 min
B. 20 min
C. 27.5 min
D. 30 min
Q5.
A tap can fill a tank in 6 hours. After half the tank is
filled, three more similar taps are opened. What is the
total time taken to fill the tank completely?
A. 3 hrs 15 min
B. 3 hrs 45 min
C. 4 hrs
D. 4 hrs 15 min
Q6.
Three pipes A, B and C can fill a tank in 6 hours. After
working at it together for 2 hours, C is closed and A and B
can fill the remaining part in 7 hours. The number of
hours taken by C alone to fill the tank is:
A. 10
B. 12
C. 14
D. 16
Q7.
Three taps A, B and C can fill a tank in 12, 15 and 20
hours respectively. If A is open all the time and B and C
are open for one hour each alternately, the tank will be
full in:
A. 6 hrs
B. 6(2/3) hrs
C. 7 hrs
D. 7(1/2) hrs
Q8.
Two outlet pipes A and B are connected to a full tank.
Pipe A alone can empty the tank in 10 minutes and pipe B
alone can empty the tank in 30 minutes. If both are
opened together, how much time will it take to empty the
tank completely?
A. 7 min
B. 7 min 30 sec
C. 6 min
D. 6 min 3 sec
Q9.
A tank is filled by three pipes with uniform flow. The first
two pipes operating simultaneously fill the tank in the
same time during which the tank is filled by the third pipe
alone. The second pipe fills the tank 5 hours faster than
the first pipe and 4 hours slower than the third pipe. Time
required by the first pipe to fill the tank is
A. 6 hr
B. 15 hr
C. 10 hr
D. 30 hr
Q10.
Three pipes A, B and C can fill a tank from empty to full
in 30 minutes, 20 minutes, and 10 minutes respectively.
When the tank is empty, all the three pipes are opened. A,
B and C discharge chemical solutions P, Q and R
respectively. What is the proportion of the solution R in
the liquid in the tank after 3 minutes?
A. 5/11
B. 7/11
C. 6/11
D. 8/11
THANK YOU
