SOLUTION: How many gallons of pure water must be added to 160 gallons of 24% salt solution to make a 12% salt solution?

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Question 749501: How many gallons of pure water must be added to 160 gallons of 24% salt solution to make a 12% salt solution?
Answer by josgarithmetic(39620) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Those numbers make using any algebra unnecessary for just the description as stated, but this also means that your solution and answer are easy to check if you solve this using algebra. Looking at those values, you know you would add 160 gallons of water to the 160 gallons of 24% salt solution to cut the concentration in half.

Look at the algebra:

Let w = gallons of water to add

The amount of resulting solution or mixture will be 160+w gallons.

160%2A24%2F%28w%2B160%29=12 and you should check the units to see that this made sense. Solve for w.
12%28w%2B160%29=160%2A24
12w%2B12%2A160=160%2A24
12w=160%2A24-160%2A12
12w=160%2A%2824-12%29
12w=160%2A12
Then dividing both sides by 12,
highlight%28w=160%29
DONE.