Firefighter Practice Exam

To determine how long it would take a second pump to drain the basement without the assistance of the first pump, we first need to understand the performance of the first pump. The first pump removed half the water in 2 hours, which means it has a specific capacity to drain the basement.

If we assume the total volume of water in the basement is represented by 1 unit, then the first pump removed 0.5 units of water in 2 hours. The rate of the first pump can therefore be calculated as:

- Rate of the first pump = 0.5 units / 2 hours = 0.25 units per hour.

This implies that if the first pump continues to work, it would take it an additional 2 hours to remove the remaining half of the water, totaling 4 hours to completely drain the basement.

Now, considering the second pump works independently, we want to find out how long it would take for this pump to drain the entire volume of water (1 unit) on its own. The answer of 1.33 hours suggests that the second pump's rate is quite high, and it likely would drain the basement at a rate that allows it to remove 1 full unit of water in that specified