karthikpandian19 wrote:Eric,
I am not familiar with this concept of ALLIGATION. Can you give little background explanation
eagleeye wrote:karthikpandian19 wrote:Mixture 1 contains 55% chemical A by volume, 23% chemical B by volume, and 22% chemical C by volume. Mixture 2 contains 38% chemical A by volume and 62% chemical B by volume. How many liters of Mixture 2 must be added to 10 liters of Mixture 1 in order for the resulting mixture to contain a combined 68% chemical A and chemical C by volume?
This question rests on recognizing that there is 77% combined A+C in mixture 1, and 38% combined A+C in mixture 2. We need 68% overall mixture.
Use method of alligation:
77----(9)----68----(30)----38
10---------- total---------x
Now x/10 = 9/30 => x = 9*10/30 = 90/30 = 3L.
Alternatively, you could set up the algebraic equation:
77*10 + 38*x = 68(10+x)
=> 30x = 90 => x= 3
Cheers!
Alligation is another way of saying, method of balances. It's a faster way of solving mixture ps and ds questions. It should only be used after sufficient practice but once you master it, it can save you valuable time in average and mixture problems.
Here are a few examples:
Lets start with an easy one.
There are 2 mixtures:
A has 20% sugar.
B has 30% sugar.
In what ratio must the be mixed to produce a mixture M containing 22% sugar.
First write the three %s on the number line.
A.-------------M----------------B.
20------------22---------------30
Now write the distance (difference) between the two components and mixture
20-----(2)----22-------(8)-----30. Here 2 and 8 are the distances between (20,22) and (22,30).
The the ratio of amount of A / amount of B = (distance between M-B)/(distance between M-A) = 8/2 = 4:1.
In the same way, for the question which I solved, the unknown was mixture 2's amount. Lets call it x.
Then set up the number line with distances in the same way as above. We are told that there's 10L of Mixture 1 present.
We have 77% for mixture 1, 68% for total and 38% for mixture. So set up the number line:
Then:
Mixture 1--------------Total--------------Mixture 2
10-------------------------Total---------------x
77-------(9)---------------68-------(30)----38 ( 9 = 77-68, 68-38 =30. )
Then 10/x = 30/9
=> x = 10*9/30 = 3.
Let me know if you have any questions.
