A hemispherical tank is full of water. It is connected to a pipe that empties it at a rate of 7 litres per second. How much approximate time (in minutes) will it take to empty half the tank if the internal radius of the tank is 2.1 meters? (Use π = $\frac{22}{7}$ and 1 \(m^{3}\)=1000 liters)
23 minutes
The tank is a hemisphere of internal radius \(r=2.1\ m\), and its volume is \(\dfrac{2}{3}\pi r^3\).
First cube the radius: \((2.1)^3=9.261\).
Full volume \(=\dfrac{2}{3}\times\dfrac{22}{7}\times9.261=19.404\ m^{3}\).
Half the tank is \(\dfrac{19.404}{2}=9.702\ m^{3}\), and converting with \(1\ m^{3}=1000\) litres gives \(9702\) litres.
The pipe empties \(7\) litres each second, so the time is \(\dfrac{9702}{7}=1386\) seconds.
Convert to minutes: \(\dfrac{1386}{60}=23.1\approx23\). The key steps are the hemisphere-volume formula and the \(m^{3}\)-to-litre conversion.
The time needed to empty half the tank is approximately 23 minutes.