how many weeks does it take to empty the lake?
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The rate of emptying the lake is -1/8.
The rate of filling the lake is 1/15
Let t be the time in weeks to empty the lake,
Now, add the given rate to get the total rate of emptying of -1/t.
[tex]\begin{gathered} \frac{-1}{8}+\frac{1}{15}=-\frac{1}{t} \\ \frac{-15+8}{120}=-\frac{1}{t} \\ -7\times t=-120 \\ t=\frac{120}{7} \end{gathered}[/tex]Thus,
[tex]t=17\frac{1}{7}[/tex]Therefore, it will take 17 weeks and 1 day to empty the lake.