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Pipes and Cistern Questions and Concept

Pipes and cistern questions involve calculating the time taken to fill or empty tanks using pipes or outlets. Key concepts include defining inlet pipes that fill tanks and outlet pipes that empty tanks. Important formulas relate the filling/emptying rates of individual and multiple pipes. Sample questions test applying these concepts and formulas to calculate tank capacities, filling times, and individual pipe filling times. Practice solving various pipe and cistern questions is recommended to better understand the topic and improve time management for exams.

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Mayur Gowda
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243 views4 pages

Pipes and Cistern Questions and Concept

Pipes and cistern questions involve calculating the time taken to fill or empty tanks using pipes or outlets. Key concepts include defining inlet pipes that fill tanks and outlet pipes that empty tanks. Important formulas relate the filling/emptying rates of individual and multiple pipes. Sample questions test applying these concepts and formulas to calculate tank capacities, filling times, and individual pipe filling times. Practice solving various pipe and cistern questions is recommended to better understand the topic and improve time management for exams.

Uploaded by

Mayur Gowda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pipes & Cistern Concept & Questions

Words problems based on pipes and cistern is a common topic from which questions are asked in the
quantitative aptitude sections for various competitive exams conducted in the country, including banks, SSC,
RRB, Insurance and others.
Candidates who are preparing themselves for the upcoming G ​ overnment exams​ must know that the
syllabus for the competitive exams is vast and for a candidate to crack these examinations, they need to
devote sufficient time for preparation of every topic under the syllabus.

Pipes and Cistern – Topic and Concept

Pipes and cistern is another format of time and work-based questions. Questions like the time taken to fill or
empty a tank, the amount of work done for the same and similar type of questions may be asked. There are
two major things which a candidate needs to know about such questions:
● Inlet:​ An inlet is a pipe which is connected to fill a tank with water. This is the positive type of work
done
● Outlet: A​ n outlet is a pipe which is connected to empty the tank of water. This indicates a negative
type of work done. It may also be referred to as ‘leak’ in the question

To solve questions based on the pipe and cistern, it is important that a candidate is aware of the above
mentioned two terms as the questions asked may not be direct and may involve the usage of such terms.

Important Formula on Pipes and Cistern


Given below are a few important formulas which shall help you solve the pipes and cistern based questions
quicker and more efficiently:
● If x hours are required to fill up a tank, then part filled in 1 hr =1/x
● If y hours are required to empty the tank, then part emptied in 1 hour = 1/y
● If a pipe can fill a tank in x hours and can empty the same tank in y hours. When both the pipes are
opened at the same time, then the net part of the tank filled in 1 hr = {(xy) / (y-x)}, provided y>x
● If a pipe can fill a tank in x hours and can empty the same tank in y hours. When both the pipes are
opened at the same time, then the net part of the tank filled in 1 hr = {(xy) / (x-y)}, provided x>y
● Net work done = (Sum of work done by Inlets) – (Sum of work done by Outlets)
● One inlet can fill the tank in x hr and the other inlet can fill the same tank in y hrs, if both the inlets are
opened at the same time, the time taken to fill the whole tank = {(xy) / (y+x)}
● If two pipes take x and y hours respectively to fill a tank of water and a third pipe is opened which
takes z hours to empty the tank, then the time taken to fill the tank = {1 / (1/x)+(1/y)+(1/z)} and the
net part of the tank filled in 1 hr = (1/x)+(1/y)-(1/z)

Tips and Tricks to Solve Questions


Since the competitive exams are all about time management, candidates must look for shortcut tricks which
shall help them solve questions quicker and save some time.
Given below are a few tips which shall help candidates solve the word problems based on pipes and cistern
easily and quickly:
● One must be familiar with terms like inlet, outlet, leak, filling a tank, emptying a tank and the formulas
related to the same. Only then can a candidate answer these questions without getting confused
● If you are unable to crack the question, then ensure that you do not spend too much time on a single
question
● Memorize the formulas and practise as much as possible to understand the concept better

Pipes and Cistern – Sample Questions


It is suggested that candidates must solve more and more questions to be able to understand the concept
better and also to answer the questions quickly and efficiently.
Given below are a few sample questions for the reference of candidates.
Q 1. I​ t takes 6 hours for three pipes, X, Y and Z to fill a tank. When the three worked together for 2
hours, Z was closed and, X and Y filled the remaining tank in 7 hours. How many hours would it take Z
alone to fill the tank?
1. 15 hours
2. 23 hours
3. 12 hours
4. 14 hours
5. 21 hours
Answer: (4) 14 hours
Solution:
Part of the tank which was filled in 2 hours = 2/6 = ⅓
The part of the tank remaining to be filled = 1 - ⅓ = ⅔
Work done by X and Y together in 7 hours = ⅔
Work done by X and Y together in 1 hour = [(⅔) / 7] = 2/21
Work done by Z in 1 hour = [{(X+Y+X)'s 1 hour's work } - {(X+Y)'s 1 hour's work}]
= (⅙) - (2/21) = 1/14
Therefore, it would take Z alone 14 hours to fill in the tank
Q 2. I​ t takes two pipes A and B, running together, to fill a tank in 6 minutes. It takes A 5 minutes less than B
to fill the tank, then what will be the time taken by B alone to fill the tank?

1. 10 minutes
2. 15 minutes
3. 20 minutes
4. 25 minutes
5. 8 minutes

Answer: (2) 15 minutes

Solution:

Let the time taken by pipe A to fill the tank be x minutes

Time is taken by pipe B to fill the tank = x+5 minutes

So, 1/x + 1/(x+5) = 1/6

⇒ x = 10

Thus, time taken by B alone to fill the tank is 10+5, i.e., 15 minutes

Q 3. I​ f two pipes can fill a tank in 24 and 20 minutes respectively and another pipe can empty 3 gallons of
water per minute from that tank. When all the three pipes are working together, it takes 15 minutes to fill the
tank. What is the capacity of the tank?

1. 100 gallons
2. 150 gallons
3. 125 gallons
4. 130 gallons
5. 120 gallons

Answer: (5) 120 gallons

Solution:

Work done by the outlet pipe in 1 minute = {1/15 – (1/24)+(1/20)} = 1/15 – 11/120 = -(1/40)

Here, the negative sign indicates the negative work done, that is the loss of water from the outlet

The capacity of 1/40 part = 3 gallons

So, Capacity of whole tank = 40×3 = 120 gallons

Q 4.​ It takes 20 minutes for pipe A to fill the tank completely and it takes 30 minutes for pipe B to fill the
tank completely. If both the inlets are opened together, then how much time will be taken to fill the tank
completely?
1. 15 minutes
2. 12 minutes
3. 11 minutes
4. 10 minutes
5. 22 minutes

Answer: (2) 12 minutes

Solution:

A portion of the tank filled by pipe A in 1 minute = 1/20

A portion of the tank filled by pipe B in 1 minute = 1/30

Total portion filled by both pipe A and B in 1 minute = (1/20 + 1/30) = 1/12

Thus it will take 12 minutes to fill the tank completely if both the inlets are opened together.

Q 5. P
​ ipe A can fill the tank 3 times faster in comparison to pipe B. It takes 36 minutes for pipe A and B to fill
the tank together. How much time will pipe B alone take to fill the tank?

1. 100 minutes
2. 124 minutes
3. 134 minutes
4. 144 minutes
5. 154 minutes

Answer: (4) 144 minutes

Solution:

Let the time taken by pipe B be x minutes

So, the time taken by pipe A = x/3 minutes

Thus, 1/3 + 3/x = 1/36

⇒ 4/x = 1/36

⇒ x = 4×36

⇒ x = 144 minutes

The questions given above are just for candidates to understand the concept better and also to analyse the
type of questions which may be asked from this topic.

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