Mixture Problem 4 Solution

75% is the same thing as 3/4 ths, which makes an easier setup than using .75 in the problem.

(3/4) * 8 gallons = 24/4 = 6 gallons--- so there is 6 gallons of pure alcohol in the 8 gallons.

The problem asks how much water needs to be added to dilute it to only 50% or so only half of the total quarts is alcohol.

A non-algebra way to think of it is to treat it like an average.

((3/4)*8 + 0(8) ) / (8 +x) = 1/2 which is basically saying if you have 8 total cups which is 75% alcohol how many extra cups (x) would you need to add to 8 to make 1/2 or 50%

Keep in mind that water is the same thing as saying 0% alcohol and then treat it like the other mixture problems.



So the problem would read:

(3/4)8 + 0(x) = (1/2)(8+x)

6 + 0 = 4 + 1/2(x) * multiply by 2
12 = 8 + x

x = 4

So 4 quarts of water would need to be added to dilute the alcohol solution to 50%.