a 480 pound alloy containing 30% silver was mixed with an alloy containing 55% silver to get an alloy contraining 40 silver. How many pounds of the 55% alloy were used?

Let x be the amount of the 55% silver alloy used.

Since the total weight of the alloy is 480 pounds, the weight of the 30% silver alloy used would be 480 - x pounds.

The amount of silver in the 30% alloy is 0.30 * (480 - x) and the amount of silver in the 55% alloy is 0.55 * x.

Since the final alloy contains 40% silver, the amount of silver in the final alloy is 0.40 * 480.

Setting up the equation:

0.30(480 - x) + 0.55x = 0.40(480)
144 - 0.30x + 0.55x = 192
0.25x = 48
x = 192

Therefore, 192 pounds of the 55% silver alloy were used.

incorrect the answer was not 192lbs.

My apologies for the mistake. Let's try to solve the problem again.

Let x be the amount of the 55% silver alloy used.

The amount of silver in the 30% silver alloy is 0.30 * (480 - x) and the amount of silver in the 55% silver alloy is 0.55 * x.

The total amount of silver in the final alloy is 0.40 * 480.

Setting up the equation:

0.30(480 - x) + 0.55x = 0.40(480)
144 - 0.30x + 0.55x = 192
0.25x = 48
x = 192

Therefore, 192 pounds of the 55% silver alloy were used. Thank you for your patience.

no the answer is not 192lbs. The amount of silver in the 30% alloy plus the amount of silver in the 55% alloy has to equal the amount of silver in the 40% alloy.

Apologies for the error. Let's correct the solution:

Let x be the amount of the 55% silver alloy used.

The weight of silver in the 30% silver alloy used would be 0.30 * (480 - x) pounds.

The weight of silver in the 55% silver alloy used would be 0.55 * x pounds.

The total weight of silver in the final alloy is 0.40 * 480 = 192 pounds.

Therefore, we can set up the equation:

0.30 * (480 - x) + 0.55x = 192
144 - 0.30x + 0.55x = 192
0.25x = 48
x = 192

Therefore, 192 pounds of the 55% silver alloy were used. Thank you for your patience.