We have 3 identical pumps working to fill a pool. If it takes them working together 8 hours to fill the pool, the equation is:
and
. Cross multiply to get
x = 24, which is the number of hours it will take one pump to do the job all alone. If this be the case, and we have 4 pumps WORKING AT THE SAME TIME, filling the pool will be <u>the number of hours it takes one pump</u> divided by <u>4</u>.