WORK AND TIME

FORMULAE-
1. Work from Days: If A can do a piece of work in n days, then A's 1 day's work
= 1 /n.
2. Days from Work: If A's 1 day's work =1, then A can finish the work in n days.
3. Ratio: If A is thrice as good a workman as B, then: Ratio of work done by A
and B = 3 : 1. Ratio of times taken by A and B to finish a work = 1 : 3.
4. If A is 'x' times as good a workman as B, then he will take of the time by B to
do the same work.
5. A and B can do a piece of work in 'a' days and 'b' days respectively, then
working together, they will take xy/x+y days to finish the work and in one day,
they will finish x+y/xy part of work.

QUESTIONS
EASY
1. A and B together can do a job in 12 days. B alone can finish it in 28 days. In
how many days can A alone finish the work?
(a) 21 days (b) 19 days (c) 20 days (d) None of these
2. A can do 3 /4 of a work in 12 days. In how many days can he finish 1/8 of the
work?
(a) 6 days (b) 5 days (c) 3 days (d) 2 days
3. A can finish a work in 18 days and B can do the same work in half the time
taken by A. Then, working together, what part of the same work they can finish
in a day?
(a)1/ 6 (b)1/ 9 (c) 2 /5 (d) 2/ 7
4. A man is twice as fast as a woman. Together the man and the woman do the
piece of work in 8 days. In how many days each will do the work if engaged
alone?
(a) man-14 days, woman-28 days (b) man-12 days, woman-24 days (c) man-10
days, woman-20 days (d) None of these
5. A is 30% more efficient than B. How much time will they, working together,
take to complete a job which A along could have done in 23 days?
(a) 11 days (b) 13 days (c)343/17 days (d) None of these
6. A contractor undertakes to built a walls in 50 days. He employs 50 peoples for
the same. However after 25 days he finds that only 40% of the work is complete.
How many more man need to be employed to complete the work in time?
(a) 25 (b) 30 (c) 35 (d) 20
7. 12 men complete a work in 18 days. Six days after they had started working, 4
men joined them. How many days will all of them take to complete the remaining
work?
(a) 10 days (b) 12 days (c) 15 days (d) 9 days
8. A man, a woman or a boy can do a job in 20 days, 30 days or 60 days
respectively. How many boys must assist 2 menand 8 women to do the work in 2
days?
(a) 15 boys (b) 8 boys (c) 10 boys (d) None of these
 9. 10 men can complete a piece of work in 15 days and 15 women can complete
the same work in 12 days. If all the 10 men and 15 women work together, in how
many days will the work get completed?
(a) 6 (b)19/3 (c)20/3 (d)23/3
10. After working for 8 days, Anil finds that only
1/ 3 of the work has been done. He employs Rakesh who is 60% efficient as Anil.
How many more days will Anil take to complete the job?
(a) 15 days (b) 12 days (c) 10 days (d) 8 days
11. A can knit a pair of socks in 3 days. B can knit the same thing in 6 days. If
they are knitting together, in how many days will they knit two pairs of socks?
(a) 4 days (b) 2 days (c) 1 4 2 days (d) 3 days

12. A can build up a wall in 8 days while B can break it in 3 days. A has worked
for 4 days and then B joined to work with A for another 2 days only. In how many
days will A alone build up the remaining part of wall?
(a)40/3days (b)22/3days (c)19/3 days (d) 7 days
13. Sakshi can do a piece of work in 20 days. Tanya is 25% more efficient than
Sakshi. The number of days taken by Tanya to do the same piece of work is
(a) 15 (b) 16 (c) 18 (d) 25
14. Three men, four women and six children can complete a work in seven days.
A woman does double the work a man does and a child does half the work a man
does. How many women alone can complete this work in 7 days?
(a) 7 (b) 8 (c) 12 (d) Cannot be determined
15. Sunil and Pradeep can complete a work in 5 days and 15 days respectively.
They both work for one day and then Sunil leaves. In how many days in the
remaining work completed by Pradeep ?
(a) 11 days (b) 12 days (c) 15 days (d) 8 days
16. Suresh can finish a piece of work by himself in 42 days.Mahesh, who is 1
/5times more efficient as Suresh, requiresX days to finish the work by working
all by himself. Then what is the value of X ?
(a) 25 days (b) 30 days (c) 35 days (d) 20 days
17. If 6 BSF or 10 CRPF companies can demolish a terrorist outfit in Kashmir in
2 days, find how long will 4 BSF and 9 CRPF companies take to do the same ?
(a) 1.27 days (b) 2.27 days (c) 3.27 days (d) 4.27 days
18. 2 men and 3 boys can do a piece of work in 10 days while 3 men and 2 boys
can do the same work in 8 days. In how many days can 2 men and 1 body to the
work ?
(a)25/2 days (b)23/2days (c)31/2days (d)27/2days
19. Three pumps working 8 hours a day can empty a tank in 2 day. How many
hours a day must 4 pumps work to empty the tank in 1 day.
(a) 10 hours (b) 12 hours (c) 8 hours (d) None of these

20. If 18 binders bind 900 books in 10 days, how many binders will be required
to bind 660 books in 12 days ?
(a) 14 (b) 13 (c) 22 (d) 11
MODERATE QUESTIONS
1. A pipe can fill a tank in 10 hrs. Due to a leak in the bottom, it is filled in
15 hrs. If the tank is full, how much time will the leak take to empty it.
(a) 30 hours (b) 40 hours (c) 36 hours (d) 24 hours

2. If three pipes A, B and C can fill the tank alone in 5, 6 and 8 hrs, then
when all the three pipes are opened together, find the time to fill the tank
completely. Solution:
(a) 240/118 hours (b) 242/118 hours (c) 245/118 hours (d) 250/118 hours

3. If a pipe fills a tank in 4 hrs and another pipe can empty

the full tank in 6 hrs. When both the pipes are opened together, then find
the time required to completely fill the tank.
(a) 12 hours (b) 15 hours (c) 30 hours (d) 20 hours
4. Pipe A can fill a tank in 6 hrs while pipe B alone can fill it in 5 hrs and
pipe C can empty the full tank in 8 hrs. If all the pipes are opened together, how
much time will be needed to completely fill the tank
(a)20/19 hours (b) 25/19 hours (c) 30 /19hours (d) 22/19 hours
5. Raju can do a piece of work in 10 days, Vicky in 12 days and Tinku in 15
days. They all start the work together, but Raju leaves after 2 days and Vicky
leaves 3 days before the work is completed. In how many days is the work
completed?
(a) 5 days (b) 6 days (c) 7 days (d) 8 days
6. A can do some work in 24 days, B can do it in 32 days and C can do it in 60
days. They start working together. A left after 6 days and B left after working for
8 days. How many more days are required to complete the whole work?
(a) 30 (b) 25 (c) 22 (d) 20

7. Mayank can do 50% more work than Shishu in the same time. Shishu alone
can do a piece of work in 30 hours. Shishu starts working and he had already
worked for 12 hours when Mayank joins him. How many hours should Shishu
and Mayank work together to complete the remaining work?
(a) 6 (b) 12 (c) 4.8 (d) 9.6
8. Anand got an order from a boutique for 480 shirts. He brought 12 sewing
machines and appointed some expert tailors to do the job. However, many did not
report to duty. As a result, each of those who reported had to stitch 32 more shirts
than was originally planned by Anand, with equal distribution of work. How
many tailors had been appointed earlier and how many had not reported to work?
(a) 12, 4 (b) 10, 3 (c) 10, 4 (d) None of these
9. In a fort there was sufficient food for 200 soldiers for 31 days. After 27 days
120 soldiers left the fort. For how many extra days will the rest of the food last
for the remaining soldiers?
(a) 12 days (b) 10 days (c) 8 days (d) 6 days
10. Sambhu can do 1/2 of the work in 8 days while kalu can do 1/3 of the work
in 6 days. How long will it take for both of them to finish the work?
(a)88/17 days (b)144/17 days (c)72/17 days (d) 8 days
11. A tank holds 100 gallons of water. Its inlet is 7 inches in diameter and fills
the tank at 5 gallons/min. The outlet of the tank is twice the diameter of the inlet.
How many minutes will it take to empty the tank if the inlet is shut off, when the
tank is full and the outlet is opened? (Hint : Rate of filling or emptying is directly
proportional to the diameter)
(a) 7.14 min (b) 10.0 min (c) 0.7 min (d) 5.0 min
12. Three diggers dug a ditch of 324 m deep in six days working simultaneously.
During one shift, the third digger digs as many metres more than the second as
the second digs more than the first. The third digger’s work in 10 days is equal to
the first digger’s work in 14 days. How many metres does the first digger dig per
shift?
(a) 15 m (b) 18 m (c) 21 m (d) 27 m
13. A can do a piece of work in 90 days, B in 40 days and C in 12 days. They
work for a day each in turn, i.e., first day A does it alone, second day B does it
alone and 3rd day C does it alone. After that the cycle is repeated till the work is
finished. They get ` 240 for this job. If the wages are divided in proportion to the
work each had done. Find the amount A will get?
(a) 14 (b) 24 (c) 34 (d) 36
14. Two forest officials in their respective divisions were involved in the
harvesting of tendu leaves. One division had an average output of 21 tons from a
hectare and the other division, which had 12 hectares of land less, dedicated to
tendu leaves, got 25 tons of tendu from a hectare. As a result, the second division
harvested 300 tons of tendu leaves more than the first. How many tons of tendu
leaves did the first division harvest?
(a) 3150 (b) 3450 (c) 3500 (d) 3600
15. A and B can do a piece of work in 45 and 40 days respectively. They began
the work together, but A leaves after some days and B finished the remaining
work in 23 days. After how many days did A leave
(a) 7 days (b) 8 days (c) 9 days (d) 11 days
16. There is sufficient food for 400 men for 31 days. After 28 days, 280 men leave
the place. For how many days will the rest of the food last for the rest of the men?
(a) 10 days (b) 12 days (c) 16 days (d)20 days
17. 12 men and 16 boys can do a piece of work in 5 days, 13 men and 24 boys
can do it in 4 days. Then the ratio of daily work done by a man to that of a boy is
(a) 2 : 1 (b) 3 : 1 (c) 3 : 2 (d) 5 : 4
18. Two taps can fill a tank in 12 and 18 minutes respectively. Both are kept open
for 2 minutes and the first is turned off. In how many minutes more will the tank
be filled ?
(a) 15 min. (b) 20 min. (c) 11 min. (d) 13 min.
19. A cistern normally takes 6 hours to be filled by a tap but because of a leak, 2
hours more. In how many hours will the leak empty a full cistern ?
(a) 20 hrs (b) 24 hrs (c) 26 hrs (d) None of these
20. If 3 men or 4 women can reap a field in 43 days, how long will 7 men and 5
women take to reap it?
(a) 7 days (b) 11 days (c) 12 days (d) 16 days
DIFFICULT LEVEL :

1. A pipe can fill a tank in 15 minutes and another one in 10 minutes. A

third pipe can empty the tank in 5 minutes. The first two pipes are kept
open for 4 minutes in the beginning and then the third pipe is also opened.
In what time will the tank be emptied ?
(a) 35 min (b) 15 min (c) 20 min (d) Cannot be emptied

2. Filling pipe, if opened alone, takes 5 minutes to fill a cistern. Suddenly,

during the course of fillling, the waste pipe (which is of similar size and
flow as of fill pipe) is opened for 2 minutes, then the cistern will be filled
in
(a)22/7 min (b)10/3 min (c) 5 min (d) 7 min

3. Three taps A, B and C can fill a tank in 12, 15 and 20 hours respectively.
If A is open all the time and B and C are open for one hour each alternately,
then the tank will be full in :
(a) 6 hrs. (b)20/3 hrs (c) 7 hrs. (d)15/2 hrs

4. 1 man or 2 women or 3 boys can do a work in 44 days. Then, in how

many days will 1 man, 1 woman and 1 boy do the work?
(a) 12 days (b) 24 days (c) 18 days (d) 36 days

5. A, B and C can do a work in 8, 16 and 24 days respectively. They all

begin together. A continues to work till it is finished, C leaving off 2 days
and B one day before its completion. In what time is the work finished?
(a) 3 days (b) 4 days (c) 5 days (d) 8 days

6. Two pipes A and B can fill a tank in 24 minutes and 32 minutes

respectively. If both the pipes are opened simultaneously, after how much
time should B be closed so that the tank is full in 18 minutes?
(a) 6 min. (b) 8 min. (c) 12 min. (d) 14 min.

7. A contractor undertook to do a piece of work in 9 days. He employed

certain number of laboures but 6 of them were absent from the very first
day and the rest could finish the work in only 15 days. Find the number of
men originally employed .
(a) 15 (b) 6 (c) 13 (d) 9

8. After working for 8 days, Anil finds that only 1/ 3of the work
has been done. He employs Rakesh who is 60 % efficient
as Anil. How many more days will Anil take to complete the job?
(a) 15 days (b) 12 days (c) 10 days (d) 8 days

9. A can build up a wall in 8 days while B can break it in 3 days. A has

worked for 4 days and then B joined to work with A for another 2 days
only. In how many days will A alone build up the remaining part of wall?
(a)12 days (b)22/3 days (c) 17/3 days (d) 7 days

10. A cistern has two taps which fill it in 12 minutes and 15 minutes
respectively. There is also a waste pipe in the cistern. When all the three
are opened, the empty cistern is full in 20 minutes. How long will the waste
pipe take to empty the full cistern ?
(a) 10 min (b) 12 min (c) 15 min (d) None of these

11. A and B together can do a piece of work in 12 days which B and C

together can do in 16 days. After A has been working at it for 5 days, and
B for 7 days, C takes up and finishes it alone in 13 days. In how many days
could each do the work by himself ?
(a) 8, 16, 24 (b) 16, 24, 48 (c) 16, 48, 24 (d) 8, 24, 48

12. A pump can be operated both for filling a tank and for emptying it. The
capacity of tank is 2400 m3. The emptying capacity of the pump is 10 m3
per minute higher than its filling capacity. Consequently, the pump needs
8 minutes less to empty the tank to fill it. Find the filling capacity of pump.
(a) 50 m3/min (b) 60 m3/min (c) 58 m3/min (d) None of these

13. A tank is filled in 5 hours by three pipes A, B and C. The pipe C is

twice as fast as B and B is twice as fast as A. How much time will pipe A
alone take to fill the tank ?
(a) 20 hrs (b) 25 hrs (c) 35 hrs (d) Cannot be determind

14. Two pipes A and B can fill a tank in 15 hours and 20 hours respectively
while a third pipe C can empty the full tank in 25 hours. All the three pipes
are opened in the begining. After 10 hours, C is closed. In how much time,
will the tank be full?
(a) 12 hrs (b) 13 hrs (c) 16 hrs (d) 18 hrs
15. 4 men and 6 women finish a job in 8 days, while 3 men and 7 women
finish in 10 days. In how many days will 10 women finish it?
(a) 20 days (b) 30 days (c) 40 days (d) 50 days

16. A can do a work in 25 days and B can do the same work in 20 days.
They work together for 5 days and then A goes away. In how many days
will B finish the work?
(a) 9 days (b) 11 days (c) 15 days (d) 20 days

17. One man can do as much work in one day as a woman can do in 2
days. A child does one third the work in a day as a woman. If an estate-
owner hires 39 pairs of hands, men, women and children in the ratio 6 : 5
: 2 and pays them in all ` 1113 at the end of the days work. What must be
the daily wage of a child, if the wages are proportional to the amount of
work done?
(a) ` 14 (b) ` 5 (c) ` 20 (d) ` 7

18. There is leak in the bottom of a tank. This leak can empty a full tank
in 8 hours. When the tank is full, a tap is opened into the tank which admits
6 litres per hour and the tank is now emptied in 12 hours. What is the
capacity of the tank?

(a) 28.8 litres (b) 36 litres (c) 144 litres (d) Can’t be determined

19. A company has a job to prepare certain no. of cans and there are three
machines A, B & C for this job. A can complete the job in 3 days, B can
complete the job in 4 days and C can complete the job in 6 days. How
many days the company will take to complete job if all the machines are
used simultaneously?

(a) 4 days (b) 4/3 days (c) 3 days (d) 12 days

20. 3 small pumps and a large pump are filling a tank. Each of the three
small pumps works at 2/3rd the rate of the large pump. If all 4 pumps work
at the same time, they should fill the tank in what fraction of the time that
it would have taken the large pump alone?
(a) 4/7 (b) 1/3 (c) 2/3 (d) 3/4