Cucumbers are on sale, so you buy 16 pounds of them at the local market for your restaurant. Each cucumber is actually 99% water. A few days later, the cucumbers have dried out to the point that each is now 80% water. How much do all your cucumbers weigh at this time?
.80 * 16 lbs
That is incorrect.
You are right.
They started out as 99% water, so there was
.99 * 16 = 15.84 lbs water
.01 * 16 = 0.16 lbs flesh
When they have dropped to 80% water, the 0.16 lbs flesh is still there, but it is now 20% of the weight. So,
0.16 = 0.20x
x = 0.8
so, the cucumbers now weigh 0.8 lbs.
Thank you!
you're welcome. Tricky problem, and easy to misinterpret, as I showed.
To find out how much all your cucumbers weigh after they have dried out, you need to calculate the weight of the water that has evaporated from the cucumbers.
First, let's determine how much water was originally in the cucumbers. You bought 16 pounds of cucumbers, and each cucumber is 99% water. To calculate the weight of the water in the cucumbers, multiply the total weight of the cucumbers by the percentage of water:
Water weight = 16 pounds * 0.99 = 15.84 pounds
Now, let's find out how much the cucumbers weigh after they dried out to 80% water content. To calculate the weight of the cucumbers after drying out, divide the weight of the water by the new water content percentage:
Cucumber weight = Water weight / 0.80 = 15.84 pounds / 0.80 = 19.8 pounds
Therefore, all your cucumbers weigh approximately 19.8 pounds after they have dried out.