Question

There are two containers of milk. There is twice as much milk in the first container as in the second. After using 2 gal. of milk from the second container and 3 gal. of milk from the first container, the second container had 4.5 times less milk than the first. How many gallons of milk were in both containers originally?

Answer 1

Let us say that:

V1 = initial gallons in first container

V2 = initial gallons in second container

From the problem statement, we can create the equations:

V1 = 2 V2

V1 – 3 = 4.5 (V2 – 2)

Combining the two:

2 V2 – 3 = 4.5 (V2 – 2)

2 V2 – 3 = 4.5 V2 – 9

2.5 V2 = 6

V2 = 2.4 gallons

V1 = 2 V2 = 4.8 gallons

So there are 4.8 gallons in the 1st container while 2.4 gallons in the 2nd container.