Question

What are commonly used mixture problem examples?

Answer 1

For mixture problems, the problems usually (but not always) deal with solutions.

When dealing with mixture problems, you need equate the amount of the compound

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Here are some examples

• Heating the solution so that some of the water will evaporate and the solution will become more concentrated. Usually, when evaporation is involved, the assumption is that only the water evaporates

Example:
Heating a 500 mL 40% alcohol solution such that the resulting alcohol solution will become a 70% alcohol solution

`(0.40)(500) - (0.00)(X) = (0.70)(500 - X)`

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• Mixing the solution with the pure form of the compound to increase the concentration

Example:
Mixing a 500 mL 40% alcohol solution with pure alcohol such that the resulting alcohol solution will become a 70% alcohol solution

`(0.40)(500) + (1.00)(X) = (0.70)(500 + X)`

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• Diluting the solution with water so that the solution will become less concentrated

Example:
Diluting a 500 mL 70% alcohol solution with water such that the resulting alcohol solution will become a 40% alcohol solution

`(0.70)(500) + (0.00)(X) = (0.40)(500 + X)`

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• Mixing two different concentrations of solution so that the resulting solution will have a concentration that is somewhere in the middle of the two solutions

Example:
Mixing a 500 mL 70% alcohol solution with 40% alcohol solution such that the resulting alcohol solution will become a 50% alcohol solution

`(0.70)(500) + (0.40)(X) = (0.50)(500 + X)`