Question

A salt solution contains 6% salt. How much water must be added to 10 liters of the solution to get a mixture that only has 4% salt?

a. 2.5 liters
b. 3.5 liters
c. 4 liters
d. 5 liters

Answer 1

5 liters of water must be added to the 10 liters of 6% salt solution to create a solution that has a 4% salt concentration.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve the question, how much water must be added to 10 liters of a 6% salt solution to get a 4% salt mixture, we set up a simple proportion. Initially, there are 0.6 liters of salt in the 10 liters of solution (10 liters * 6%). If water is added to dilute the solution to 4% salt, we can represent the total volume of the new solution as (10 liters + x), where x is the amount of water added.

Now the equation is 0.6 liters = 4% * (10 liters + x), solving this will give us the value of x:

1. Convert percentages into decimals: We change 4% into 0.04 for calculation purposes.
2. Set up the equation: 0.6 = 0.04 * (10 + x).
3. Divide both sides by 0.04 to get: 15 = 10 + x.
4. Subtract 10 from both sides to solve for x: x = 5 liters.

Therefore, 5 liters of water must be added to the 10 liters of 6% salt solution to get a 4% salt mixture.