Question:medium

A 2-bottom, 50 cm MB plough is being operated at a speed of 5 km/h. If the time lost in turning is 8 per cent, how many hours will be required to plough 23 ha of land?

Show Hint

Work out the effective field capacity in ha per hour first, factoring in the plough width, speed and turning loss, then divide the area by it.
  • 23
  • 46
  • 50
  • 100
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Convert everything to a rate of ploughing in ha per hour, then invert it. Working width \(W = 2 \times 0.5\ \text{m} = 1\ \text{m} = 0.001\ \text{km}\). At 5 km/h, the theoretical rate is \(A = W \times v = 0.001 \times 5 = 0.005\ \text{km}^2/\text{h} = 0.5\ \text{ha/h}\) (since 1 km\(^2\) = 100 ha).
Only 92% of the time is actually spent ploughing since 8% goes into turning, so the real rate is \(0.5 \times 0.92 = 0.46\ \text{ha/h}\).
Time needed for 23 ha is simply the area divided by this rate.
\[t = \frac{23}{0.46} = 50\ \text{h}\]\[\boxed{50\ \text{hours}}\]
Was this answer helpful?
0