The time T taken to buy fuel at a petrol station varies as the number of vehicles V on queue and jointly varies inversely as the number of pumps P available in the station. In a station with 5 pumps, it took 10 minutes to fuel 20 vehicles. Find the relationship between T, P and V.

Find the time it will take to fuel 50 vehicles in the station with 2 pumps.
Find the number of pumps required to fuel 40 vehicles in 20 minutes.

1 answer

To find the relationship between \( T \), \( P \), and \( V \), we can express the relationship mathematically. The problem states that \( T \) varies as the number of vehicles \( V \) in queue and inversely with the number of pumps \( P \). This can be expressed as:

\[ T = k \frac{V}{P} \]

where \( k \) is a constant of proportionality.

Step 1: Determine the Constant \( k \)

We are given that when there are 20 vehicles ( \( V = 20 \) ) and 5 pumps ( \( P = 5 \) ), the time taken is 10 minutes ( \( T = 10 \) ). We can substitute these values into the equation to find \( k \):

\[ 10 = k \frac{20}{5} \]

This simplifies to:

\[ 10 = k \cdot 4 \]

Thus,

\[ k = \frac{10}{4} = 2.5 \]

Now we can rewrite the relationship between \( T \), \( P \), and \( V \):

\[ T = 2.5 \frac{V}{P} \]

Step 2: Find the Time to Fuel 50 Vehicles with 2 Pumps

Next, we want to find the time \( T \) it will take to fuel 50 vehicles ( \( V = 50 \) ) with 2 pumps ( \( P = 2 \) ):

\[ T = 2.5 \frac{50}{2} \]

Calculating this gives:

\[ T = 2.5 \cdot 25 = 62.5 \text{ minutes} \]

Step 3: Find the Number of Pumps Required to Fuel 40 Vehicles in 20 Minutes

Now, we need to find the number of pumps \( P \) required to fuel 40 vehicles ( \( V = 40 \) ) in 20 minutes ( \( T = 20 \) ). We can rearrange the original equation to solve for \( P \):

\[ T = 2.5 \frac{V}{P} \implies P = 2.5 \frac{V}{T} \]

Substituting in \( V = 40 \) and \( T = 20 \):

\[ P = 2.5 \frac{40}{20} \]

This simplifies to:

\[ P = 2.5 \cdot 2 = 5 \]

Summary of Results:

  1. The relationship: \( T = 2.5 \frac{V}{P} \)
  2. Time to fuel 50 vehicles with 2 pumps: 62.5 minutes
  3. Number of pumps required to fuel 40 vehicles in 20 minutes: 5 pumps