To determine the time it takes to fill the tank when both pipes A and B are opened simultaneously, we need to calculate their combined rate of filling the tank.
Let's denote the rate at which pipe A can fill the tank as A_rate (in tanks per hour) and the rate at which pipe B can fill the tank as B_rate (in tanks per hour).
Given:
● Pipe A can fill the tank in 10 hours, so its rate is 1/10 tanks per hour (1 tank in 10 hours).
● Pipe B can fill the tank in 40 hours, so its rate is 1/40 tanks per hour (1 tank in 40 hours).
When both pipes are opened simultaneously, their rates of filling the tank are additive. Therefore, the combined rate is:
Combined_rate = A_rate + B_rate = 1/10 + 1/40 = 4/40 + 1/40 = 5/40 = 1/8 tanks per hour.
This means that when both pipes are opened, they can fill 1/8th of the tank in one hour.
To determine the time taken to fill the entire tank, we can calculate the reciprocal of the combined rate:
Time = 1 / Combined_rate = 1 / (1/8) = 8/1 = 8 hours.
Hence, the correct answer is option 'A) 8 hours' as it would take 8 hours to fill the tank when both pipes A and B are opened simultaneously.