Question

An experiment calls for a 6% salt solution. Only a 3% salt solution and an 8% salt solution are available. How many gallons of each must be combined to obtain 40 gallons of a 6% salt solution?3% solution _____ gal8% solution _____gal

Answer 1

We have to find the amount of 3% salt solution and the amount of 8% salt solution that must be combined to get the amount of 40 of 6% salt solution:

Translation into Mathematics:

`\begin{gathered} ((8)/(100))x+((3)/(100))y=(6)/(40)\rightarrow(1) \\ \\ x+y=40\rightarrow(2) \end{gathered}`

The solution to the equation (1) and (2) is as follows:

The answer is:

`\begin{gathered} x=24\rightarrow\text{ 8\% solution galons} \\ \\ y=16\rightarrow\text{ 3\% solution galons} \end{gathered}`