SOLUTION: A silversmith has two alloys, one containing 70% silver and the other 20% silver. How much of each should be melted and combined to obtain 500 grams of an alloy containing 55% silv
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Question 534086: A silversmith has two alloys, one containing 70% silver and the other 20% silver. How much of each should be melted and combined to obtain 500 grams of an alloy containing 55% silver? Answer by KMST(5328) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let x be the amount (in grams) of the 70% alloy.
Let y be the amount (in grams) of the 20% alloy.
We want and or
Now we have a system of linear equations: and
We can solve by elimination like this:
multiply the first equation times -0.2 to get
and add it to the second equation to eliminate y, getting so
Plugging that value back into we get so
