A swimming pool in the shape of a rectangular prism is filled with water. The pool measures 12 ft wide by 24 ft long by 6ft deep. If the pool fills at a rate of 86 cubic feet per hour, approximately how many hours will it take to fill the pool

It takes 21 hours to fill the pool

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's first plan out our problem at hand. If we were to determine the volume of this swimming pool by multiplication of it's dimensions (length * width * height) we could determine how long it would take to fill the pool by dividing this volume by the rate at which the pool fills. This is true as R = D/T, and here we isolate T (time) so that T = D/R, where D is the volume of the pool, and R is the rate at which it fills:

1. Calculate the volume of the pool -

V = length * width * height = 12 * 24 * 6 = 1728 cubic feet

2. Substitute R (rate) into T = D/R to find T (time) -

T = D/R = 1728/86 = (About) 20.09 hours

Now to round this value, we would have to round it up as sparing 20 hours would not fill the pool: 21 hours