help me with my calculus problem

[hilikus]

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One pipe can fill a tank in 5 hours less than another. Together they can fill the tank in 5 hrs. how long would it take for each pipe to fill the tank by itself? Round answer to the nearest minute.

I know this involves using the forumlar D=RT.

I need some help though.

Thanks

 

[doctorcynical]

Originally posted by hilikus
One pipe can fill a tank in 5 hours less than another. Together they can fill the tank in 5 hrs. how long would it take for each pipe to fill the tank by itself? Round answer to the nearest minute.

I know this involves using the forumlar D=RT.

I need some help though.

Thanks

Search the old threads. Somebody already posted stuff about this type of problem. I believe it was titled Coloumb's Law

 

[Bridaddy]

Originally posted by doctorcynical
Search the old threads. Somebody already posted stuff about this type of problem. I believe it was titled Coloumb's Law

Depending on the charge of the pipes 😉

 

[yeeester]

DC-
stop being a jackass

to the OP-

the problem is not too difficult, if you know how to solve it. i only used some old alg2 crap. so heres the deal:

set up the problem as two pipes, one of which can fill the tank in x hours, the other in x + 5 hours. this problem deals with how much the pipes can fill per hour, so you have to use reciprocals. you add the two fractions 1/x and 1/(x+5) and set it equal to 1/5 (bc the tank should befilled in 5 hours). then solve for x, which is the amount of time in hours that the larger pipe would take to fill the tank by itself. it only requires a little algebraic manipulation.

 

[yeeester]

clarification-

the final equation is

1/x + 1/(x+5) = 1/5

sorry if it was ambiguous. your asnwers should be around 8 and 13 and some change, respectively.

 

[jlee9531]

not to be mean or anything so dont take offense...

im just surprised this would be considered a calculus problem. like the previous poster thread said...wasnt this alg stuff in HS?

 

[hilikus]

yeah its algebra...but i havent had college math in 8 years...so give me a break...

the equation i came up with was

5/x + 5/x+5=1 (which is equal to the same equation you had)

my answer was also around 8 or 13

this is actually pre-calc...i appreciate some people's willingness to help me

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by jlee9531
not to be mean or anything so dont take offense...

im just surprised this would be considered a calculus problem. like the previous poster thread said...wasnt this alg stuff in HS?

It is an easy problem but there are some similar problems found in Calc I when dealing with optimization.