Question

It takes three identical water pumps 8 hours to fill a pool, What is the constant of variation?

Answer 1

Answer:

Constant of variation is 24.

Step-by-step explanation:

Inverse variation states that a relationship between two variables in which the product is remain constant.

If one variable increases then, the other one decreases in proportion so that the product is unchanged,

if y is inversely proportional to x i.e $y \propto\frac{1}{x}$ or

$y =\frac{k}{x}$ ;where k is the constant of variation.

It is given that 3 identical water pumps takes 8 hours to fill a pool,

since, it will take less time with  more pumps, so it is an inverse variation.

By definition of inverse variation;

$time = \frac{k}{pump}$

Substitute the values to solve for k;

$8 = \frac{k}{3}$

Multiply by 3 to both sides we get;

$8 \times 3 = \frac{k}{3} \times 3$

Simplify:

k = 24

Therefore, the constant of variation is, 24