document.write( "Question 1157597: Town A and Town B were located close to each other, and recently merged into one city. Town A had a population with 12% African Americans. Town B had a population with 8% African Americans. After the merge, the new city has a total of 4000 residents, with 9.4% African Americans. How many residents did Town A and Town B used to have? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #780479 by greenestamps(13200)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \n" ); document.write( "Here is a non-algebraic method for solving this type of \"mixture\" problem. \n" ); document.write( "The difference between 8% and 9.4% is 1.4%; the difference between 12% and 9.4% is 2.6%. \n" ); document.write( "That means the ratio of the populations of the two towns before the merger was 1.4:2.6, or 14:26. \n" ); document.write( "With a combined population of 40,000, and a ratio of 14:26, the populations of the two towns were 14,000 and 26,000. \n" ); document.write( "And since 9.4% is closer to 8% than to 12%, town B had the larger population. \n" ); document.write( "ANSWERS: \n" ); document.write( "Town A: 14,000 \n" ); document.write( "Town B: 26,000 \n" ); document.write( "CHECK: \n" ); document.write( ".12(14,000) + .08(26,000) = 1680+2080 = 3760 \n" ); document.write( ".094(40,000) = 3760 \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |