Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /50 of 75

, 2003

Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Find the answer Italy

Problem:

A confectionery company produces two types of nougat, using the same white paste and the same hazelnuts, but in different proportions. In nougat of type AA the hazelnuts represent 30%30\% of the weight and 40%40\% of the volume; in that of type BB the hazelnuts represent 60%60\% of the weight. What percentage of the volume do the hazelnuts represent in nougat of type BB?

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:

The answer is 7070. Let PAP_{A} be the weight of nougat AA, VAV_{A} the volume of nougat AA, PBP_{B} the weight of nougat BB, VBV_{B} the volume of nougat BB. We have that 30%PA30\%\,P_{A} occupies 40%VA40\%\,V_{A}, so the specific weight of the hazelnuts is 34PAVA\frac{3}{4} \frac{P_{A}}{V_{A}}. Considering the weight and the space occupied by the white paste in nougat AA, we instead find that its specific weight is 76PAVA\frac{7}{6} \frac{P_{A}}{V_{A}}. So to calculate the volume occupied by the hazelnuts and by the white paste in nougat BB we divide their weight, that is 60%PB60\%\,P_{B} for the hazelnuts and 40%PB40\%\,P_{B} for the white paste, by their specific weight, obtaining that the former occupy 45PBPAVA\frac{4}{5} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A} and the latter 1235PBPAVA\frac{12}{35} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A}. Adding the two volumes we obtain the total volume, that is
VB=45PBPAVA+1235PBPAVA=87PBPAVA. V_{B} = \frac{4}{5} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A} + \frac{12}{35} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A} = \frac{8}{7} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A}.
To calculate the percentage occupied by the hazelnuts we only need to divide the volume occupied by them by the total volume of the nougat:
45PBPAVA87PBPAVA=70% \frac{\frac{4}{5} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A}}{\frac{8}{7} \frac{P_{B}}{P_{A}} V_{A}} = 70\%
So the hazelnuts occupy 70%70\% of the volume of nougat BB.

Solution 2

Solution:

In the first nougat, with 30%30\% of the weight the hazelnuts made up 40%40\% of the volume, and therefore the paste with 70%70\% of the weight made up 60%60\% of the volume. Thus if the "voluminosity" of the hazelnuts is 4/34/3, that of the paste turns out to be 6/76/7. Therefore the share of volume of the hazelnuts in the second nougat is
604/3604/3+406/7=8080+240/7=560800=70% \frac{60 \cdot 4/3}{60 \cdot 4/3 + 40 \cdot 6/7} = \frac{80}{80 + 240/7} = \frac{560}{800} = 70\%

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.