TIME AND WORK

CONCEPTS:

Man - Work - Hour Formula:

 M men can do a piece of work in T hours, then Total effort or work = MT

1
 If A can do a piece of work in D days, then A's 1 day's work = D
t
Part of work done by A for t days = D
1
 If A's 1 day's work = D , then A can finish the work in D days.

MDH
 W = Constant

Where,

M = Number of men
D = Number of days
H = Number of hours per day
W = Amount of work

 If M1 men can do W1 work in D1 days working H1 hours per day and M2

men can do W2 work in D2 days working H2 hours per day, then

M 1 D1 H 1 M 2 D2 H 2
=
W1 W2

 If A is x times as good a workman as B, then:

Ratio of work done by A and B = x:1
Ratio of times taken by A and B to finish a work = 1:x
1
That is, A will take ( X )th of the time taken by B to do the same work.
Shortcuts:

1) A and B can do a piece of work in 'a' days and 'b' days respectively, then
working together:

ab
They will complete the work in a+b days

a+b
In one day, they will finish ab th part of work.

2) If A can do a piece of work in a days, B can do in b days and C can do in c days

then,
abc
A, B and C together can finish the same work in ab+bc +ca days

3) If A can do a work in x days and A and B together can do the same work in y
days then,
Number of days required to complete the work if B works alone
xy
= x − y days

4) If A and B together can do a piece of work in x days, B and C together can do it

in y days and C and A together can do it in z days, then number of days required
to do the same work:

2 xyz
If A, B, and C working together = xy+ yz+ zx

2 xyz
If A working alone = xy+ yz− zx

2 xyz
If B working alone = − xy + yz + zx

2 xyz
If C working alone = xy − yz+ zx
5) If A and B can together complete a job in x days.
If A alone does the work and takes a days more than A and B working together. If
B alone does the work and takes b days more than A and B working together,
then x= √ab days

6) If m1 men or b1 boys can complete a work in D days, then m2 men and b2 boys
Dm1 b 1
can complete the same work in m2 b 1+m1 b 2 days.

7) If m men or w women or b boys can do work in D days, then 1 man, 1 woman

Dmwb
and 1 boy together can together do the same work in mw+ wb+bm days

8) If the number of men to do a job is changed in the ratio a:b, then the time
required to do the work will be changed in the inverse ratio b:a

Note: If people work for same number of days, ratio in which the total money
earned has to be shared is the ratio of work done per day by each one of them.

9) A, B, C can do a piece of work in x, y, z days respectively. The ratio in which the

1 1 1
amount earned should be shared is x : y : z = yz:zx:xy

Note: If people work for different number of days, ratio in which the total money
earned has to be shared is the ratio of work done by each one of them.

Special cases

1) A certain no of men can do the work in D days. If there were m more men, the
work can be done in d days less. How many men were there initially?

Let the initial number of men be M

Number of man days to complete work = MD

If there are M+m men, days taken = D−d

So, Man Days = (M+m)(D−d)

MD=(M+m)(D−d)
M(D–(D−d))=m(D−d)

m(D− d)
M=
d

2) A certain no of men can do the work in D days. If there were m less men, the
work can be done in d days more. How many men were initially?

Let the initial number of men be M

Number of man days to complete work = MD

If there are M−m men, days taken = D+d

So, man days = (M−m)(D+d)

MD=(M−m)(D+d)

M(D+d–D)=m(D+d)

m(D+ d)
M=
d

3) Given A takes a days to do work. B takes b days to do the same work. Now A
and B started the work together and n days before the completion of work A
leaves the job. Find the total number of days taken to complete work?

Let D be the total number of days to complete work.

A and B work together for D−n days.

1 1 1
So, (D−n)( a + b ) + n( b )=1

1 1 n n n
D( a + b ) – a – b + b = 1

1 1 n+a
D( a + b ) = a
 b(n+ a)
D= days
a+ b

Solved Examples:

Example 1: If Art and Rita can do a job in 8 hours (working together at their
respective constant rates) and Art can do the job alone in 12 hours. In how many
hours can Rita do the job alone?

Sol:
Let Rita does the work in R days. Using basic work formula the equation would be
1/12 + 1/R = 1/8
⇒ 8R + 96 = 12R
⇒ 96 = 4R
⇒ 24 = R Working alone, Rita can do the job in 24 hours.

Example 2: A can do a piece of work in 60 days, which B can do in 40 days. Both

started the work but A left 10 days before the completion of the work. The work
was finished in how many days?

Sol:
A left the job 10 days before the completion. So, B worked alone for the last 10
days. First, we will calculate B’s 10 days work, which he did alone.
In 10 days B will do 10 × 1/40 = 1/4th of the work.
Remaining work 1 - ¼ = ¾ (Which A and B have done together). A and B can do
1/60 + 1/40 work in 1 day. Their one-day’s work is 1/60 + 1/40 = (2 + 3)/120 =
5/120 = 1/24. They can finish the work in 24 days.
They would have done three-fourth of the work in 24 × 3/4 = 18 days.
⇒ Total days = 18 + 10 = 28.

Example 3: A can do a piece of work in 24 days and B in 20 days but with the help
of C they finished the work in 8 days. C alone can do the work in how many days?

Sol:
Using work formula here (1/A) + (1/B) + (1/C) = (1/8)
(1/C) = (1/8) - (1/A) - (1/B) ⇒ (1/C) = (1/8) -(1/24) = (1/20) ⇒ (1/C) = (1/30)
C can do this work in 30 days.
Example 4: If machine X can produce 1,000 bolts in 8 hours and machine Y can
produce 1,000 bolts in 24 hours. In how many hours can machines X and Y,
working together at these constant rates, produce 1,000 bolts?

Sol:
Using formula for work: 1/8 + 1/24 = 1/h ⇒ 4/24 = 1/6. Working together,
machines X and Y can produce 1,000 bolts in 6 hours.

Example 5: A and B can do a piece of work in 36 days, B and C in 48 days, A and C

can do this work in 72 days. In what time can they do it all working together?

Sol:
A and B’s one day’s work = 1/36. B and C’s one day’s work = 1/48. C and A’s one
day’s work = 1/72.
If we add all this it will give us the work of 2A, 2B and 2C in 1 day i.e. (1/36) +
(1/48) + (1/72) + (1/16)
That also implies that A, B and C’s one day’s work will be half of this i.e. (1/2) x
(1/16) = (1/32)
From here it can found that they will complete the work in 32 days.

Example 6:  A can do as much work in 6 days as C in 10 days. B can do as much

work in 6 days as C can do in 4 days. What time would B require to do a work if A
takes 48 days to finish it?

Sol.
A : C :: 6 : 10 or (A/C) = (3/5) and B : C :: 6 : 4 or (B/C) = (3/2), (B/A) =(B/C) x (C/A)
= (3/2) x (5/3) = (5/2)
Therefore, B = (5/2) x A ⇒ (5/2) x 48 = 120 days.

Example 7:  A can do a piece of work in 48 days and B in 72 days but with the help
of C they finished the work in 24 days. Out of the total payment of Rs. 3000, how
much should be given to C?

Sol:
The payment made to anybody is in the proportion of the work done and not in
the ratio of days spent. Using work and time formula in 24 days working alone A &
B would have done 24/48 = 1/2 and 24/72 = 1/3 of the work. That means they
together did 1/2 + 1/3 = 5/6th of the work. Remaining 1/6th of the work must be
done by C, the only person present. Now as he did 1/6th of the work, he should
be paid 1/6th of the money i.e. 3000 × 1/6 = Rs. 500.

HANDOUT PROBLEMS:

1) In a relief camp of 550 men, the food was enough for 28 days. If 150 more
people joined in the camp, the same amount of food will be enough for

2) A and B undertake to do a piece of work for Rs. 3200. A alone can do it in 12

days while B alone can do it in 16 days. With the help of C, they can finish it in 6
days, Find the share of C.

3) A and B can do a piece of work in 24 days, B and C in 30 days, C and A in 40

days. If A, B and C work together, they will complete the work in how many days?

4) 1 man, 3 women and 4 boys can do a piece of work in 96 hours, 2 men and 8
boys can do it in 80 hours, 2 men and 3 women can do it in 120 hours. 5 men and
12 boys can do it in how many hours?

5)In a poultry farm, 50 hens give 200 eggs in 2 days. In how many days will 20
hens give 400 eggs?

6) To complete a work A and B takes 8 days, B and C takes 12 days, A,B and C
takes 6 days. How much time A and C will take to finish? (Cocube)

7) A completes 80% of a work in 20 days. Then B also joins and A and B together
finish the remaining work in 3 days. How long does it need for B if he alone
completes the work? (CTS)

8) A and B can together finish a work 30 days. They worked together for 20 days
and then B left. After another 20 days, A finished the remaining work. In how
many days A alone can finish the work? (CTS)

9) 16 men can complete a work in twelve days. 24 children can complete the
same work in 18 days. 12 men and 8 children started working and after 8 days 3
more children joined them. How many days will they now take to complete the
remaining work?

10) 4 men and 6 women can complete a work in 8 days, while 3 men and 7
women can complete it in 10 days. In how many days will 10 women complete it?

11) A and B can together do a piece of work in 6 days. If B can do the work by
himself in 8 days, how many days will A take to do the work independently?

12) A does half as much work as B, and C does half as much work as A and B
together. If C alone can finish the work in 40 days , then all together will finish to
work in

13) A and B can together do a piece of work in 28 days. If A, B and C can together
finish the work in 21 days, how long will c take to do the work by himself?

14) Twelve men can complete a work in 8 days. Three days after they started the
work, 3 more man joined. In how many days will all of them together complete
the remaining work?

15) A can do a piece of work in 30 days, B in 50 days and C in 40 days. If A is

assisted by B on 1st day and by C on the next day alternately work will be
completed in how many days?

16) 96 men were engaged for a project of constructing a railway track of the
length of 18km in four weeks. After one week it was observed that the work of
4km was completed. How many additional men should be engaged for timely
completion of the project?

17) X is four times as efficient as Y in respect of doing a particular work. Working

together they complete the work in 16 days. In how many days Y, working alone,
will be able to do half the work?

18) In a production shop, 480 units were required to be produced. The supervisor
had appointed 10 workers to do the job. However, some of them did not report
for duty. As a result, each of those who were present, had to produce 72 units
more than originally planned. How many workers did not report for work?

19) If 4 men or 7 women can complete a work in 14 days, how many men should
accompany 14 women so that the work will be completed in 3 and half days?

20) women can complete a work in 7 days and 10 children take 14 days to
complete the work. How many days will 5 women and 10 children take to
complete the work? (CTS)

21. A bath has two taps and a waste pipe. One of the taps would fill the bath in
ten minutes & the other would take a quarter of an hour, the waste pipe can
empty a full bath in exactly seven and half minutes. Now if we start with an empty
bath with both taps fully on, when (if ever) will the bath be full if the waste pipe is
left open?

22) Pipe A takes 16 min to fill a tank. Pipes B and C, whose cross-sectional
circumferences are in the ratio 2:3, fill another tank twice as big as the first. If A
has a cross-sectional circumference that is one-third of C, how long will it take for
B and C to fill the second tank? (Assume the rate at which water flows through a
unit cross sectional area is same for all the 3 pipes.)

23) Akash can construct a wall in 20 days, Surya can do the same in 30 days but
Agni can destroy the same wall in 40 days. Only one person works every day, with
Akash starting on the first day followed by Surya the next day and then Agni takes
over and this pattern repeats. How many days does it to take construct a wall?

24) Manu working alone on a job takes 12 days more than what he would have
taken if Bhanu had worked along with him while Bhanu working alone on the
same job takes 27 days more than what he would have taken if Manu had worked
along with him. Find the time that both of them working together would take to
do the job?

25) If 20 men or 24 women or 40 boys can do a task in 12 days working for 8

hours a day, how many men working with 6 women and 2 boys take to do a task
four times as big working for 5 hours a day for 12 days?
PRACTICE EXERCISE:

1) A can do a work in 15 days and B in 20 days. If they work on it together for 4

days, then the fraction of the work that is left is:

2) A, B and C can do a piece of work in 20, 30 and 60 days respectively. In how

many days can A do the work if he is assisted by B and C on every third day?

3) A alone can do a piece of work in 6 days and B alone 8 days. A and B undertook
to do it forRs.3200. With the help of C, they completed the work in 3 days. How
much is to be paid to C?

4) A can do a piece of work in 4hours; B and C together can do it in 3 hours, while

A and C together can do it in 2 hours. In how long will B alone take to do it?

5) A can do a certain work in the same time in which B and C together can do it. If
A and B together could do it in 10 days and C alone in 50 days, then B alone could
do it in:

6) 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:

7) A and B can complete a work in 15 days and 10 days respectively. They started
doing the work together but after 2 days B had to leave and A alone completed
the remaining work. In how many days whole work was completed?

8) A works twice as fast as B. If B can complete a work in 12 days independently,

in how many days A and B can together finish the work ?

9) P is thrice as efficient as Q and is therefore able to finish a piece of work in 60

days less than Q. Find the time in which P and Q can complete the work
individually.

10) A tub can be filled in 20 minutes but there is a leakage in it which can empty
the full tub in 60minutes. In how many minutes it can be filled?
11) A can do a piece of work in 14 days while B can do it in 21 days. In how many
days, working together they will complete the whole work?

12) A is thrice as efficient as B. Working together they complete the work in 3

days. If B takes 8days more than A, what is the number of days taken by A to
finish the whole work, alone?

13) A and B together can complete a piece of work in 4 days. If A alone can
complete the same work in 12 days, in how many days can B alone complete that
work?

14) A and B undertake to do a piece of work for Rs.600. A alone can do it in 6 days
while B alone can do it in 8 days. With the help of C, they finish it in 3 days. Find
the share of each.

15) A is twice as good a workman as B and together they finish a piece of

work in 18 days. In how many days will A alone finish the work?

16) A and B can together finish a work in 30 days. They worked together for 20
days and then B left. After another 20 days, A finished the remaining work.
In how many days A alone can finish the job?

17) A alone can do a piece of work in 6 days and B alone in 8 days. A and B
undertook to do it for Rs.3200. With the help of C, they completed the work in 3
days. How much is to be paid to C?

18) Time taken by A to finish a piece of work is twice the time taken B and thrice
the time taken by C. If all three of them work together, it takes them 2 days to
complete the entire work. How much work was done by B alone?

19) Sonal and Preeti started working on a project and they can complete the
project in 30 days. Sonal worked for 16 days and Preeti completed the remaining
work in 44 days. How many days would Preeti have taken to complete the entire
project all by herself?

20) Dev completed the school project in 20 days. How many days will Arun take to
complete the same work if he is 25% more efficient than Dev?