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I am mixing a chemical solution and working up a chart for this.

The ratio is:

49% part 1
49% part 2
2% part 3

Part 1 and part 2 are always the same quantity.

If I start from a known total quantity — ie, “I want to make a total of 1000mL of solution” — this is easy to calculate:

Total x mL = (x mL * .49) + (x mL * .49) + (x mL *.02)

My question is this: is there a way to calculate the amounts “backwards”.

Example: “I have 5mL of part three. How many mL of part 1 and part 2 do I need?”

Or: “I have 8 mL of parts 1 and parts 2. How many mL of part 3 do I need?”

(Edited to clarify question)

Tomasch
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  • Hi, welcome to MathSE! I think your question is a bit unclear. First, do you want to say that you are certain that parts 1 and 2 have the same amount of weight? Or are you saying that part 1 can have some amount $z_1$ and part 2 can have a different amount $z_2$? – Pavan C. Apr 15 '21 at 19:35
  • Yes, if I understood you correctly. If everything is in mL. If you have 5 of part 3, then the total will be $5/0.02 = 250$, and from that you can calculate the other parts. – CoveredInChocolate Apr 15 '21 at 19:35
  • Thanks! I edited the second half. I hope that makes it clears! – Tomasch Apr 15 '21 at 23:53
  • @CoveredInChocolate I think you should post that as an answer. – Ethan Bolker Apr 15 '21 at 23:57
  • @CoveredInChocolate Right! So simple I'm embarrassed. If you post as an answer I can accept it! – Tomasch Apr 16 '21 at 02:19
  • @EthanBolker: All right, I added an answer now. – CoveredInChocolate Apr 16 '21 at 13:54

1 Answers1

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Yes, if I understood you correctly. If everything is in mL. If you have 5 of part 3, then the total will be $5/0.02=250$, and from that you can calculate the other parts.

CoveredInChocolate
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