All GMAT Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #5 : Mixture Problems
A chemist has 400 milliliters of a solution of 20% alcohol on hand, and he wants to mix it with enough pure alcohol to turn it into a 30% alcohol solution. How much pure alcohol will this require?
Select the response that is closest to the correct answer.
If the chemist adds 400 milliliters of a solution of 20% alcohol to milliliters of pure alcohol, he will have milliliters of the 30% alcohol solution.
The amount of pure alcohol in each solution will be the amount of solution multiplied by the concentration expressed as a decimal. Therefore, the amounts of alcohol in the three solutions, in milliliters, will be:
20% solution:
30% solution (result):
Since the alcohol in the first solution is being added to milliliters of pure alcohol to yield the alcohol in the second, the following equation can be set up:
milliliters.
The closest response is 60 milliliters.
Example Question #6 : Mixture Problems
A chemist wants to make one liter of hydrochloric acid solution. He only has two concentrations on hand - and . How much of the solution will the chemist use?
The choices are given in milliliters, so we will convert one liter to 1,000 milliliters.
If the chemist is to use milliliters of 10% to make the solution, then he will mix it with milliliters of the 50% solution. The result will be 1,000 milliliters of 25% solution.
The amount of pure acid in each solution will be the amount of solution multiplied by the concentration expressed as a decimal. Therefore, the amounts of acid in the three solutions, in milliliters, will be:
10% solution:
50% solution:
25% solution (result):
Since the first two solutions are added to yield the third, the amounts of acid are also being added, so the equation to solve is:
milliliters of the weaker solution.
Example Question #7 : Mixture Problems
A chemist has milliliters of a solution of alcohol on hand, and he wants to mix it with enough pure alcohol to turn it into a alcohol solution. If is the amount of pure alcohol he needs, which equation can he use to solve for ?
If the chemist adds 300 milliliters of a solution of 25% alcohol to milliliters of pure alcohol, he will have milliliters of the 40% alcohol solution.
The amount of pure alcohol in each solution will be the amount of solution multiplied by the concentration expressed as a decimal. Therefore, the amounts of alcohol in the three solutions, in milliliters, will be:
25% solution:
40% solution (result):
Since the first solution is being added to milliliters of pure alcohol, the following equation can be set up:
Example Question #11 : Mixture Problems
A chemist has milliliters of a solution of alcohol on hand, and she wants to mix it with enough alcohol solution to turn it into a alcohol solution. If is the amount of alcohol she needs, which equation can she use to solve for ?
The chemist will add 400 milliliters of 20% solution to milliliters of 60% solution to make milliliters of 30% solution.
The amount of pure alcohol in each solution will be the amount of solution multiplied by the concentration expressed as a decimal. Therefore, the amounts of alcohol in the three solutions, in milliliters, will be:
20% solution:
60% solution:
30% solution (result):
Since the first two solutions are added to yield the third, the amounts of alcohol are also being added, so the equation to solve is
Example Question #12 : Mixture Problems
A chemist wants to make one liter of hydrochloric acid solution. He only has two concentrations on hand - and . If is the amount in milliliters of the solution he is to use, then which equation can be used to solve for ?
If the chemist is to use milliliters of 12% to make the solution, then he will mix it with milliliters (1,000 milliliters being equal to 1 liter) of the 30% solution. The result will be 1,000 milliliters of 12% solution.
The amount of pure acid in each solution will be the amount of solution multiplied by the concentration expressed as a decimal. Therefore, the amounts of acid in the three solutions, in milliliters, will be:
12% solution:
30% solution:
15% solution (result):
Since the first two solutions are added to yield the third, the amounts of acid are also being added, so the equation to solve is
Example Question #13 : Mixture Problems
A nut mixture consists of peanuts, pistachios, and macadamia nuts in the ratio , respectively, by weight. What amount of pistachios will be in 40 pounds of the mixture?
Using the ratio, we can write the following equation:
There are pounds of peanuts, pounds of pistachios, and pounds of macadamia nuts in the mixture, so that means that in 40 pounds of the mixture, there are
pounds of peanuts
pounds of pistachios
pounds of macadamia nuts
Since the question asked about pistachios, the correct answer is that there are pounds of pistachios in pounds of the mixture.
Example Question #11 : Mixture Problems
A chemist is diluting of a pure acid solution with water in order to obtain a solution that is only acid. What is the total amount of the resulting solution?
Let be the amount of water used to dilute the acid. The resulting solution will then have . The amount of acid in the final solution is: . That amount of acid in the final solution is equal to the original of acid, since there is no acid in water.
The amount of the final solution is , and the amount of water used to dilute the original acid solution is .
Example Question #11 : Mixture Problems
A certain solution is glycol by volume. How many liters of this solution must be added to liters of a glycol solution in order to produce a solution with an overall concentration of ?
Let x equal the number of liters of the 77% solution, the value we need to solve for. If the first solution is 77% glycol, then 0.77x will give us the number of liters of glycol in the first solution. Accordingly, 0.53(42 liters) will give us the number of liters of glycol in the second solution. If we are mixing these two solutions, then the number of liters of glycol in the final mixture will equal the sum of the number of liters of glycol in each solution. The amount of glycol in the final mixture will be its desired concentration times the volume of the total mixture, 0.60(x+42), so we can write the following equation and solve for x:
Example Question #174 : Word Problems
A scientist has one liter of a 40% sulfuric acid solution; he needs to dilute it to 25%. How much water will he need to dilute it to the appropriate strength?
Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a liter, if applicable.
40% of one liter is 0.4 liters of acid, which is the amount of acid that will be in the solution at the end as well.
After liters of water is added, there will be liters of solution. the amount of acid in the solution will be 25% of this, or .
The amount of acid in the solutions remains constant, so we set up and solve this equation:
The scientist will need to add 0.6 liters of water.
Example Question #171 : Problem Solving Questions
A scientist has one liter of a 40% sulfuric acid solution; he needs to strengthen it to 50%. How much pure sulfuric acid will he need to strengthen it to the appropriate concentration?
40% of one liter of the original solution is 0.4 liters of acid.
Suppose the scientist adds liters of acid. Then the scientist will have liters of solution and liters of acid, and the concentration will be
percent. Solve for :
The scientist will need to add 0.2 liters of pure acid to the solution.