linear equations

Question

A chef plans to mix 100%

vinegar with Italian dressing. The Italian dressing contains 12%

vinegar. The chef wants to make 160

milliliters of a mixture that contains 23%

vinegar. How much vinegar and how much Italian dressing should she use?

Vinegar:

milliliters

Italiandressing:

milliliters

Answer 1

160 ml of dressing that is 23% vinegar would contain 160 *.23 or 36.8 ml of vinegar. So if we let v represent the number of milliliters of pure vinegar, we would use 160 - v ml of dressing, which would contain .12(160-v) ml of vinegar. Since we want a total of 36.8 ml of vinegar in the mixture:

36.8 = v + .12(160-v)

Solve for v to find the amount of vinegar and subtract that from 160 for the amount of dressing.