Question

A student doing a chemistry experiment has a beaker that contains 60mL of an alcohol and water solution. The lab indicates that there’s 2 times as much water as alcohol in the solution. How much water and how much alcohol is there?

Answer 1

Amount of alcohol present is 20mL and amount of water present is 40 mL

SOLUTION:

Given, a student doing a chemistry experiment has a beaker that contains 60mL of an alcohol and water solution.

The lab indicates that there’s 2 times as much water as alcohol in the solution.

We need to find how much water and how much alcohol is there?

Let the amount of alcohol be "x" mL and amount of water be "y" mL.

Then, given that total solution is of 60 mL

x + y = 60 → (1)

Now, according to lab indications.

y = 2x → (2)

now substitute (2) in (1)

x + 2x = 60

3x = 60

x = 20 mL

substitute x value in (2)

y = 2(20) = 40 mL

hence, amount of alcohol is 20mL and amount of water present is 40 mL.