Start learning →

CAT Time and Work — practice questions

Explore 35 free Time and Work questions in CAT Quantitative Aptitude. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

Practise Time and Work with Quill →

Time and Work questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 35.

Order the steps to solve a time-and-work problem (A finishes in 12d, B in 8d)Read the answer and worked solution →As the number of workers on a job increases, the time taken to finish it:Read the answer and worked solution →If 6 men finish a job in 10 days, how many days will 4 men take at the same rate?Read the answer and worked solution →If 12 workers can complete a task in 8 days, 16 workers will complete it in:Read the answer and worked solution →A can do a piece of work in 10 days and B in 15 days. Working together they finish it in:Read the answer and worked solution →A and B together finish a job in 12 days. A alone takes 20 days. B alone would take:Read the answer and worked solution →A is twice as fast as B. Working together they finish a job in 8 days. A alone would take:Read the answer and worked solution →A pipe fills a tank in 6 hours while an outlet empties it in 8 hours. With both open the tank fills in:Read the answer and worked solution →A can finish a job in 20 days. After working 5 days he leaves. The fraction of work left is:Read the answer and worked solution →For a fixed amount of work, the product of the number of workers and the days taken is:Read the answer and worked solution →Pete can paint a room in 10 hours. Working steadily, how much of the room does he paint in one hour?Read the answer and worked solution →Alicia would take 8 hours to paint the same room alone. Her share of the job in one hour is:Read the answer and worked solution →Pete needs 10 hours and Alicia 8 hours for the same room. Together their hourly share of the job is:Read the answer and worked solution →One gardener mows a golf course in 4 hours and another takes 6 hours. Together they finish in:Read the answer and worked solution →Carrie can weed the garden in 7 hours and her mother in 3 hours. Together they take:Read the answer and worked solution →Tom paints the den in 45 minutes and Bobby in 60 minutes. Together they need about:Read the answer and worked solution →A job on Press #1 takes 6 hours. In one hour that press completes:Read the answer and worked solution →With both presses running the job takes 4 hours. Press #1 alone takes 6 hours, so Press #2 alone takes:Read the answer and worked solution →Corey shovels the snow in 4 hours. With his twin Casey they finish in 2 hours, so Casey alone would take:Read the answer and worked solution →Two workers finish a job in exactly the same time each. If one alone takes 8 hours, together they take:Read the answer and worked solution →Judy pilots her powerboat 5 miles into a 7 mph wind in the time she covers 12 miles with a 7 mph tailwind. Her boat's own speed is:Read the answer and worked solution →Hamilton rides 12 miles downhill, then back uphill at 8 mph slower, taking 2 hours longer. His downhill speed is:Read the answer and worked solution →Tony drives 4 hours in all, 208 miles on the interstate and 40 on country roads, going 15 mph faster on the interstate. His country road speed is:Read the answer and worked solution →A plane's ground speed with a tailwind of 30 mph, if the plane itself flies at 150 mph, is:Read the answer and worked solution →In work problems, the parts of the job done by each worker in one hour add up to:Read the answer and worked solution →Converting two fifths of an hour into minutes gives:Read the answer and worked solution →A worker finishing in 5 hours and another in 20 hours together do what share of the job each hour?Read the answer and worked solution →Catch the work ratesRead the answer and worked solution →Pop the faster finishersRead the answer and worked solution →Run the rate gatesRead the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

Order the steps to solve a time-and-work problem (A finishes in 12d, B in 8d)

Read exercise and reference answers
Steps
  1. Compute A's 1-day work: 1/12
  2. Compute B's 1-day work: 1/8
  3. Add: combined 1-day work = 1/12 + 1/8 = 5/24
  4. Take reciprocal: combined time = 24/5 days
  5. Convert: 4 days and 4/5 of a day (≈ 4 days 19 hours)

Open this exercise →

As the number of workers on a job increases, the time taken to finish it:

  1. Increases in the same ratio
  2. Stays the same
  3. First rises, then falls
  4. Decreases
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: D. Decreases

1. Two quantities are in inverse proportion when one rises as the other falls. 2. As the number of workers increases, the time taken to finish the job decreases. 3. Doubling the workers halves the time, so the product of workers and days stays constant. 4. That constant product is the total work to be done. 5. Option A describes direct proportion, which is the opposite relationship. _Source: syllabus Maths, Ch 11 'Direct and Inverse Proportions', S11.3 Inverse Proportion_

Open this question →

If 6 men finish a job in 10 days, how many days will 4 men take at the same rate?

  1. 15 days
  2. 12 days
  3. 16 days
  4. 20 days
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. 15 days

1. Men and days are in inverse proportion, so their product is the total work. 2. The work here is 6 x 10 = 60 man-days. 3. With 4 men, the days needed are 60 / 4. 4. That is 15 days. 5. Fewer men must mean more days, so any answer below 10 would be wrong on inspection. _Source: syllabus Maths, Ch 11 'Direct and Inverse Proportions', S11.3 Inverse Proportion_

Open this question →

How to practise

  1. Choose a Time and Work question and try to work out your answer.
  2. Open the question to check the correct answer and read its worked solution.
  3. Continue in the app for bite-sized lessons, explanations and review with Quill. You can start without creating an account.

Put it into practice

Continue with Time and Work practice for CAT. Read explanations as you go. No signup form needed to start.

Practise Time and Work →

More Quantitative Aptitude topics

Quantitative AptitudeAlgebraCAT QA — MixedProfit and LossRatio and ProportionPercentagesAverages and MixturesDI — Tables