Time and Work

Work can be of different types and is measured in different units. The work done by a person (or a
machine) per unit time is called the person’s (or machine’s) rate of work or efficiency or capacity to do
the work.

When there is no apparent measure of work, the work can be taken as one unit. However, in certain
sums (involving persons or machines or pipes with differing rates of work), for easy arithmetic, it is
advantageous to take the number of units equal to the LCM of the time figures given in the sum. This is
illustrated in some of the solved examples.

If the sum involves a certain number of workers doing a piece of work in a certain number of days, the
work can be measured by the effort involved in mandays, which is calculated by multiplying the number
of workers by the number of days. In sums with varying number of hours worked per day, the effort
involved is measured in manhours, which is calculated by multiplying the number of workers by the
number of days and the number of hours worked per day.

The units of time can be days or hours or minutes, depending on the problem.

We can do easy arithmetic using rate of work. For instance, if person X does x units of work per day and
person Y does y units of work per day, then they together do (x + y) units of work per day. Such easy
arithmetic is not possible with the number of days (or hours or minutes) taken by each person to do a
certain work.

The concept of direct and inverse variation is very useful in solving problems on time and work.

1. For a given team size, the work done varies directly as the time for which the team works.
2. For a given time duration, the work done varies directly as the size of the team.
3. For a given piece of work, the time required to do the work varies inversely as the size of the
team. For instance, if the team size doubles, the work can be completed in half the time. If the
team size becomes one-third, the time required will become 3 times.
4. The rate of work varies inversely as the time required to do the work. For instance, if A takes
double the time taken by B to do a certain work, it follows that A’s rate of work is half B’s rate of
work, which can be stated as “A is half as efficient as B”. If the time ratio of A and B is x : y, the
efficiency ratio of A and B is y : x.

Unless otherwise stated in the problem it can be assumed that:

1. Each worker does the same amount of work every day / hour / minute. In other words the rate
of work is assumed to be uniform.

2. If the sum involves a team of workers, it is implied that all of them are equally efficient.
However, different types of workers like men, women and children, can have different
efficiencies.
Exercises

1. A and B take 12 and 18 days respectively to do a piece of work. A works alone for 3 days.
How many days will B take to complete the remaining work?
(1) 13 1/2 (2) 9 (3) 16 1/2 (4) 12
2. A, B and C together can do a work in 18 days. They work together for 2 days and then A
leaves. If their rate of work is equal, in how many days will the remaining work be
completed?
(1) 30 (2) 36 (3) 24 (4) 21
3. The ratio of the capacity to do a work, of A and B is 3 : 2. If they together can complete a
work in 18 days, how long would A take to complete the work alone?
(1) 45 (2) 30 (3) 24 (4) 40

4. A pipe can fill an empty tank in 12 minutes and another pipe can empty it in 20 minutes.
How long would both of them together take to fill the tank to half its capacity?
(1) 60 min (2) 30 min (3) 15 min (4) 12 min

5. The ratio of the number of days in which A, B and C can complete a work is 2 : 3 : 5. If they
earn Rs.3100 for the work, what is A’s share?

(1) 620 (2) 930 (3) 1500 (4) 1000

6. A is twice as fast as B and B is thrice as fast as C. If A earns Rs.600 for a work, how much is
earned by all three persons working together for completing the work?

(1) 1600 (2) 1000 (3) 270 (4) 1200

7. 10 men or 20 women can complete a work in 4 days. 5 men left and 5 new women joined. In
how many days is the work completed?
(1) 1 1/2 (2) 3 1/8 (3) 1 1/15 (4) 5 1/3
8. A takes 9 days to do a work. B is 50 % more efficient than A. How many days will they
together take to complete the work?
(1) 3 3/5 (2) 3 1/5 (3) 3 1/2 (4) none of these
9. A and B can do a work in 72 days, B and C in 120 days, and A and C in 90 days. In how many
days can A alone do the work?
(1) 80 (2) 100 (3) 120 (4) none of these
10. A garrison has enough food for 52 days. After 20 days 400 more men join and the food lasts
for 24 days. How many men were there originally?
(1) 1200 (2) 1000 (3) 1500 (4) none of these
11. A and B are 2 pipes which can fill an empty tank in 36 and 48 minutes respectively. When
the tank is empty both A and B are opened simultaneously. After some time B was closed
and the tank is filled in 24 minutes. For how many minutes was pipe B open?
(1) 6 (2) 7 (3) 9 (4) none of these
12. Pipe A can fill an empty tank in 8 hours and B can do the same in 12 hours. If the tank is
empty and pipes A and B are opened for an hour alternately with pipe B being opened first,
when will the tank be full?
(2) 9 hours (2) 8 hours (3) 9 ½ hours (4) none of these
13. A is thrice as efficient as B and is able to finish a work in 50 days less than B. How many days
will they take to complete the work together?
(1) 15 (2) 20 (3) 25 (4) none of these
14. If 35 men can do a piece of work in 6 days, in how many days can 15 men do the work?
(1) 12 (2) 14 (3) 16 (4) None of these
15. If 15 boys and 12 girls can do a work in 20 days and 8 boys and 4 girls can do the same work
in 40 days, what is the ratio of the efficiency of a boy to that of a girl?
(1) 1 : 4 (2) 4 : 1 (3) 2 : 3 (4) 3 : 2
16. 2 taps A and B can fill a tank in 9 minutes and 12 minutes respectively. If B is opened 2
minutes after A was opened, in how many minutes will the tank be full?
(1) 6 (2) 8 (3) 10 (4) 12

17. The ratio of the rates of work of A and B is 5 : 6. What is the ratio of the number of days
taken by them to complete the work?

(1) 6 : 5 (2) 3 : 2 (3) 2 : 3 (4) 5 : 6

18. 8 men can complete a job in 4 days. 2 days after they start the work, they were joined by 2
more men. How many more days will they take to complete the remaining work?

(1) 1 3/5 (2) 2 (3) 1 (4) 1 2/5

19. The question below is followed by two statements I and II. Choose answer choice (1) if the
question can be answered using one of the statements alone but not using the other statement.
Choose (2) if you can answer the question using either statement alone. Choose (3) if you need
to use both the statements to answer the question. Choose (4) if the question cannot be
answered using both the statements.

How many men are required to complete the work in 2 days?

Statement I: 1 man, 1 woman and 1 boy can complete the work in 30 days.

Statement II: Work done per day by 2 men is the same as that done by 3 women or 5 boys.
 20. A tank has 3 pipes A, B and C connected to it. Each pipe can act as an inlet pipe or an outlet
pipe. Pipes A, B and C take 20 hours, 15 hours and 30 hours respectively, to fill the empty cistern
or to empty the full cistern. Which of the following statements is/are true?

Statement I: The tank will be filled in 12 hours if pipes A and B work as inlet and pipe C as outlet.

Statement II: The tank will be filled in 20 hours if pipes C and B work as inlet and pipe A as
outlet.

Statement III: The tank will be filled in 60 hours if pipes A and C work as inlet and pipe B as
outlet.

(1) Statement I only (2) Statements I and II (3) Statements I and III (4) Statements I, II and III

Answers to exercises

1. (1) 13 1/2
2. (3) 24
3. (2) 30
4. (3) 15 min
5. (3) 1500
6. (2) 1000
7. (4) 5 1/3
8. (1) 3 3/5
9. (3) 120
10. (1) 1200
11. (4) none of these
12. (4) none of these
13. (4) none of these
14. (2) 14
15. (2) 4 : 1
16. (1) 6
17. (1) 6 : 5
18. (1) 1 3/5
19. (3) Both the statements are required to answer the question.
20. (4) Statements I, II and III