Time and Work

Contents
1. Introduction
2. Basic Concepts
3. Rules and Tricks
4. Practice Questions
1. Introduction:
Time and Work problems are most
frequently asked problems in quantitative
aptitude. To solve these problems very quickly,
you should understand the concept of Time and
Work and some shortcut methods.
Before starting:

If 100 cats kill 100 rats in 100 days, then 1

cats would kill 1 rat in how many days ???
2. Basic Concepts:
In solving the problems based on time and work,
we need to calculate the following parameters.
(A) Time :- Time taken to complete an assigned job.
(B) Individual time :- Time needed by single person
to complete a job.
(C) Work:- It is the amount of work done actually.
If a man can do a piece of work in 5 days, then
he will finish 1/5th of the work in one day.
If a man can finish 1/5th of the work in one
day then he will take 5 days to complete the
work.
If a man 5/6th of work in one hour then he
will take 6/5 hours to complete the full work.
If A works three times faster than B then A
takes 1/3rd the time taken by B.
3. Rules and Tricks:
Rule 1: Universal Rule
This rule can be used in almost every problems.
• If M1 persons can do W1 work in D1 days and
M2 persons can do W2 works in D2days then we can
say
M1D1W2 = M2D2W1
• If the persons work T1 and T2 hours per day
respectively then the equation gets modified to
M1D1T1W2 = M2D2T2W1
• If the persons has efficiency of E1 and E2 respectively
then,
M1D1T1E1W2 = M2D2T2E2W1
Example:
• 5 men can prepare 10 cycles in 6 days working
6 hours a day. Then in how many days can 12
men prepare 16 cycles working 8 hours a day?
Sol:
Here M1 = 5, W1 = 10, D1 = 6, T1 = 6 and
M2 = 12, W2 = 16, T2 = 8
So from the above rule
M1D1T1W2 = M2D2T2W1
5 × 6 × 6 × 16 = 12 × D2 × 8 × 10
D2 = 3 Days.
So they will complete the work in 3 days.
Rule 2:
If A can do a piece of work in n days, then
The work done by A in one day = 1/n

Example:
If A can repair 50 cycles in 5 days then A can
repair 50/5 = 10 cycles in one day.
Rule 3:
If A can do a piece of work in X days and B can
do the same work in Y days, then both of them
working together will do the same work in
XY days.
X+y
Example:
If A can do a piece of work in 10 days and B can do the
same work in 15 days then how long will they take if
they both work together?
Solution 1:
A can finish the work in D1 = 10 days.
B can finish the work in D2 = 15 days.
A and B working together = D1 * D2
D1 + D2
= 10 * 15/ 10 + 15
= 150/25 = 6 days.
Solution 2: (UNITARY METHOD)
Let the total work be assumed as LCM(10,15)= 30 Units

Now to complete 30 units A takes 10 days

To complete 30 units B takes 15 days

Units done in 1 day by A = 3

Units done in 1 day by B = 2
Units done in 1 day by A & B = 5

To complete 30 units they will take 30/5 = 6days

Rule 4:
If A is twice as good a workman as B, then A will take half of
the time taken by B to complete a piece of work.
Example:
A is twice as good a workman as B. Together, they finish the
work in 14 days. In how many days can it be done by each
separately?
Solution 1:
Let’s assume that A alone can finish the work in x days.
It is given that A is twice as good a workman as B so B alone
can finish the work in 2x days
= x * 2x / x + 2x = 2x2/3x = 14.
So x = 21 days.
So A can finish the work in 21 days and B can finish the work
in 42 days.
Rule 5:
If A, B and C, while working alone, can complete
a work in X, Y and Z days respectively, then they
will together complete the work in
XYZ days.
XY + YZ + ZX
Example:
A, B and C can complete a piece of work in 5, 10
and 15 days respectively. Working together, they
will complete the same work in:
Solution 1:
By using the formula = 5 * 10 * 15
(5*10)+(10*15)+(5*15)
= 2 8/11 days.
Solution 2: ((UNITARY METHOD)
Let the total work be assumed as LCM(5,10,15)= 30 Units
Now to complete 30 units A takes 5 days
To complete 30 units B takes 10 days
To complete 30 units C takes 15 days

Units done in 1 day by A = 6

Units done in 1 day by B = 3
Units done in 1 day by C = 2
Units done in 1 day by A+B+C = 11

To complete 30 units they will take 30/11 = 2 8/11days

Rule 6:
Two persons A and B, working together, can
complete a piece of work in X days. If A, working
alone, can complete the work in Y days, then B,
working alone, will complete the work in
XY days.
Y-X
Example:
Jack and Jill together can do a piece of work in
10 days. Jack alone can do it in 15 days. In how
many days can Jill alone do it?
Solution 1:
By using formula,
= 10 * 15
15 – 10
= 30 days.
Solution 2: (UNITARY METHOD)
Let the total work be assumed as LCM(10,15)= 30 Units

Now to complete 30 units Jack and Jill takes 10 days

To complete 30 units Jack takes 15 days

Units done in 1 day by Jack + Jill = 3

Units done in 1 day by Jack = 2
Units done in 1 day by Jill = 1

To complete 30 units they will take 30/1 = 30 days

Rule 7:
If A and B, working together, can finish a piece of
work in X days, B and C in Y days, C and A in Z
days, then
(a) A, B and C working together, will finish the
job in 2XYZ days.
XY + YZ + ZX

(b) A alone will finish the job in

2XYZ days.
XY + YZ - ZX
(c) B alone will finish the job in
2XYZ days.
YZ + ZX - XY

(d) C alone will finish the job in

2XYZ days.
ZX + XY – YZ

Note: This type can be solved under unitary

method also.
Rule 8:
If A working alone takes X days more than A and
B together, then B working alone takes Y days
more than A and B together, then the number of
days taken by A and B, working together, to
finish a job is given by √XY
Rule 9:
If the number of men are changed in the ratio of
m:n, then the time taken to complete the work
will change in the ratio n:m.
Rule 10:
If A is K times more efficient than B and is
therefore able to finish a work in X days less
than B, then
A, working alone, can finish the work in
X days.
K–1
Practice Questions
1. A does alone a work in 4 days. B does alone a
work in 8 days. In how many days the work will
be completed if A & B together?
a) 4 days
b) 8 days
c) 32 days
d) 8/3 days

Ans: D
2. A can do a work in 15 days and B can do it in
18 days. With the help of C, all of them
complete the work In 6 days. How long will it
take C to finish the work alone?
a) 30 days
b) 45/2 days
c) 90/2 days
d) 40 days

Ans: B
3. A can do a work in 15 days and B can do it in
18 days. With the help of C, all of them
complete the work In 6 days. A, B and C received
total Rs.27,000 for the whole work. What is the
share of C, If the money is distributed in the
ratio of amount of work done, individually?
a) 2700
b) 14400
c) 7200
d) 6300
Ans: C
4. A can do 1/3rd of a work in 5 days and B can
do 2/5th of the work in 10 days. In how many
days both A and B together can do the work?
a) 13 2/3 days
b) 9 3/8 days
c) 18 5/8 days
d) 13 days

Ans: B
5. Lal singh can eat 50 laddoos in 4 hours and Pal
singh can eat 42 laddoos in 6 hours. If both of
them start together, then what is the total time
required by them to eat 507 laddoos?
a) 20 hours
b) 21 hours
c) 26 hours
d) 25 hours

Ans: C
6. Ram can do a piece of work in 14 days, while
Rani can do the same work in 21 days. They
started the work together but 3 days before the
completion of the work, Ram left the work. The
total number of days to complete the work is:
a) 7
b) 8.5
c) 5
d) 10.2

Ans: D
7. A piece of work can be done by A and B in 10 days,
by B and C in 15 days and by C and A in 30 days. All
three worked for 6 days and then A withdrew. B and C
worked for another 4 days and then B stopped working.
How many more days will C take to complete the
remaining work?
a) 12
b) 12.5
c) 10.33
d) 10

Ans: D
8. A can finish a work in 24 days, B in 9 days and
C in 12 days. B & C start the work but are forced
to leave after 3 days. The remaining work done
by A in:
a) 10
b) 12.5
c) 20
d) 7

Ans: A
9. A alone can complete a work in 16 days and B
alone can complete the same in 12 days.
Starting with A, they work on alternate days.
The total work will be completed in how many
days?
a) 12 days
b) 12 ½ days
c) 13 ¾ days
d) 13 days

Ans: C
10. Fatima and Zahira can do a piece of work in
12 days and 15 days respectively. If they work
for alternate day and Fatima starts the work
first, then in how many days the work will be
completed?
a) 12 1/5 days
b) 13 ¼ days
c) 13 1/5 days
d) 15 days

Ans: B
11. Manoj and Harvinder can complete a piece
of work in 16 days, which Harvinder can
complete in 32 days. If Manoj & Harvinder work
on alternate days, starting with Harvinder, in
how much time would the work be completed?
a) 16 days
b) 17 days
c) 32 days
d) None of these

Ans: C
12. A can do a piece of work in 36 days, B in 54
days and C in 72 days. All three began the work
together but A left after 8 days and B left 12
days before the completion of the work. Total
number of days to complete the work?
a) 25 2/11 days
b) 30 6/7 days
c) 30 days
d) 28 days

Ans: B
13. An intern can do a job in 15 days. The manager
and senior manager are busy with other priorities
and thus take 25 and 40 days respectively to
complete the task. How long will they take to finish
the task if all of them work together?
a) 7
b) 7 47/49
c) 8
d) 8 47/49

Ans: B
14. Jay and Anup can do a job, each working
alone in 30 and 15 days respectively. Jay started
the work and after a few days, Anup joined him.
They completed the work in 18 days from the
start. After how many days did Anup join A?
a) 6
b) 10
c) 12
d) 14
Ans: C
15. If 15 men or 24 women or 36 boys can do a
work in 12 days working 8 hours a day, how
many men must be associated with 12 women
and 6 boys to do another work 2 ¼ times as
great in 30 days working 6 hours per day?
a) 10
b) 15
c) 8
d) 9

Ans: C
16. 2 men and 3 women finish 25% of the work
in 4 days, while 6 men and 14 women can finish
the whole work in 5 days. In how many days will
20 women finish it?
a) 20
b) 25
c) 24
d) 30

Ans: A
17. 10 men and 15 women together can
complete a work in 6 days. It takes 100 days for
one man alone to complete the same work. How
many days will be required for one woman alone
to complete the same work?
a) 90
b) 100
c) 125
d) 225

Ans: D
18. One 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 & 3 women can do it in
120 hours. 5 Men & 12 boys can do it in how
many hours?
a) 39 1/11 hrs
b) 42 7/11 hrs
c) 43 7/11 hrs
d) 44 hrs

Ans: C
19. 10 men can finish a piece of work in 10 days
whereas it takes 12 women to finish it In 10
days. If 15 men and 6 women undertake to
complete the work, how many days will they
take to complete it?
a) 7 days
b) 5 days
c) 9 days
d) 8 days

Ans: B
20. Sonu can do a piece of work in 20 days. He
started the work and left after some days, when
25% work was done. After that Abhijeet joined
and completed it working for 10 days. In how
many days Sonu and Abhijeet can do the
complete work, working together?
a) 6
b) 8
c) 10
d) 12
Ans: B
21. 45 men complete a piece of work in 30 days
working 12 hours a day. In how many days will
60 men complete the work if working 10 hours a
day?
a) 27 days
b) 30 days
c) 24 days
d) 22 days

Ans: A
22. 45 men can complete a work in 16 days. Six
days after they started working, 30 more men
joined them. How many days will they now take
to complete the remaining work?
a) 4
b) 5
c) 6
d) 7

Ans: C
23. A computer can perform 30 identical tasks in
six hours. At that rate, what is the minimum
number of computers that should be assigned to
complete 80 of the tasks within 3 hours?
a) 6
b) 7
c) 8
d) 9

Ans: A
24. If 7 maids with 7 mops cleaned 7 floors in 7
hours, how long would it take 3 maids to mop 3
floors with 3 mops?
a) 3 hours
b) 7/3 hours
c) 49/3 hours
d) 7 hours

Ans: D
25. Milinda takes 8 1/3 hours more when she
works alone in comparison of when she works
with Bill. While Bill takes 5 1/3 hours more when
he work alone in comparison of when he works
with Milinda. How long it will take by Bill to
complete the work alone?
a) 10 hrs
b) 15 hrs
c) 18 hrs
d) 12 hrs
Ans: D
26. A factory produces nuts and bolts. A machine in it
produces only nuts while another produces only bolts. The
machine producing only nuts produces 400 nuts per minute
and need to be cleared for 15 minutes after production of
2000 nuts. The machine producing only bolts produces 300
bolts per minute and needs to be cleared for 15 minutes
after production of 3000 bolts. Find the minimum time
required to produce 12000 pairs of bolts and nuts if both
machines are operated simultaneously.
a) 85 mins
b) 105 mins
c) 100 mins
d) 115 mins
Ans: B