Final answer:
To find out how many gallons of pure water should be evaporated, we can use the concept of the conservation of mass. By setting up an equation with the given percentages and volumes, we can solve for the amount of water that needs to be evaporated.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out how many gallons of pure water should be evaporated, we can use the concept of the conservation of mass. We'll start by assuming that there are x gallons of pure water that need to be evaporated. The amount of salt in the solution is given by the equation:
12% of 160 gallons = 20% of (160 - x) gallons
Simplifying the equation, we get:
0.12 * 160 = 0.20 * (160 - x)
After solving for x, we find that x is equal to 40 gallons. Therefore, 40 gallons of pure water should be evaporated from the solution.