Answer:
PART A:
w-3.5 t=8
w-3.25t=24
PART B:
t=64
and w= 232
PART C:
It will take 64 minutes for both of the containers to have the same amount of water.
The amount of water in each container is:
232 gallons.
Step-by-step explanation:
PART A:
Let the water is filling in 't' minutes.
and 'w' denotes the amount of water in the container.
for container 1:
One begins with 8 gallons of water and is filled at a rate of 3.5 gallons per minute.
The equation is given by:

or 
for container 2:
The other begins with 24 gallons and is filled at 3.25 gallons per minute.
The equation is given by:

or 
PART B:
on solving equation (1) and equation (2) by method of elimination we get:
subtract equation (2) by equation (1) to obtain:

t=64
and putting the value of t in equation (1) to obtain:

w= 232
PART C:
Hence it will take 64 minutes for both of the containers to have the same amount of water.
The amount of water in each container is:
232 gallons.