A chemist mixes two liquids 1 and 2. One litre of liquid 1 weighs 1 kg and one litre of liquid 2 weighs 800 gm. If half litre of the mixture weighs 480 gm, then the percentage of liquid 1 in the mixture, in terms of volume, is
So we get two liquids with a different density (one is heavier than the other), that now we have mixed and we are asked to determine the proportion of one of the liquids on that mixture.
As we know the density of each of the liquids and the average density of the mixture, the solution comes from a simple function.
Being the liters of liquid 1 "x" and of liquid 2 "y":
1000x+800y=480 & x+y=.5
So x= .5-y then 1000(.5-y) + 800y=480; so -200y + 500=480; so y= 20/200 = 1/10
It is important to notice the units we are using, liters for the volume, grams for the weight.
So the 1/10 means that there will be 100ml of Liquid 2 in the mixture, then the 400ml left would be of Liquid 1.
Important also to remember that we are asked the proportion of Liquid 1 on the mixture, so we have that 400/500=80%.
Then C is the right answer.
The equation solution is long, so would be much faster and convenient to just plug the solutions % with the equation (double checking and being careful with the measures).
A. 70
B. 75
C. 80
D. 85
E. 90