how do i solve this

Question

An environmental problem. You work at a chemical plant that disposes of waste oil by burning it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has told you that you can burn the oil if it is 1% particulate contamination . How many gallons of pure oil must be added to 500 gallons of 3% particulate contaminated oil to meet EPA specifications?

Answer 1

500 gallons that have 3% particulate contamination would have:

 

500 * 3% = 15 gallons of contaminants 

 

For that oil to have only 1% contamination, there would have to be a volume to all of the oil 100 times that of the contaminants. That would be:

 

15 gallons * 100 = 1500 gallons

 

Therefore, the amount of pure oil that needs to be added is:

 

1500 gallons - 500 gallons = 1000 gallons of pure oil