Home » Aptitude » Simplification

A tank takes 25 buckets to fill. If bucket capacity is reduced to two-fifths of the present, how many buckets are needed to fill the tank?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: 62.5 buckets

Explanation:

Given data

  • Current requirement = 25 buckets.
  • New bucket capacity = two-fifths of the current capacity.

Concept / Approach

  • For a fixed tank volume, the number of buckets required is inversely proportional to the capacity per bucket.

Step-by-step calculation

Let each current bucket hold C units. Tank volume V = 25C.New bucket capacity = (2/5)C.Required buckets N = V / [(2/5)C] = (25C) / ((2/5)C) = 25 × (5/2) = 62.5.


Verification

Halving capacity would double buckets to 50; reducing to two-fifths is even smaller capacity, so count should be 25 × 2.5 = 62.5 (consistent).


Common pitfalls

  • Multiplying by 2/5 instead of dividing by 2/5 (remember inverse proportionality).
  • Forcing an integer answer; the arithmetic result is 62.5.

Final Answer

62.5 buckets.

← Previous Question Next Question→

Discussion & Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Join Discussion