As with most vegetables, potatoes are mostly water. In fact, the normal potato is 99% water. Suppose you had a bag of potatoes that weighed 100 pounds. You left the bag out in the sun for some time and they began to dry out until they are 98% water. How much does the bag of potatoes weigh now? The most obvious answer may not be correct.
can someone tell me how i would solve this problem? I am so confused. I dont even know what the OBVIOUS answer would be. Any help would be greatly appreciated
2007-02-25 00:38:17 · 4 answers · asked by heygirl1914 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
If the bag of potatoes plus the 99 percent water potatoes is 100 pounds....
99 percenti s a 100 pounds
so 98 percenti s how many pounds?
Cross multiply: x= [98x100] divided by 99 should be the answer.
98.98 pounds, I think.
2007-02-25 00:46:53 · answer #1 · answered by Avatar Unknown 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Originally the bag of potatoes weighed 100 pounds and the water weight was 99 lbs. When the bag of potatoes lose 1% of water you would think that the weight would then be 98 lbs.
I'm not sure if this helps, but this gets you the obvious answer at least.
2007-02-25 00:49:44 · answer #2 · answered by iuchew_22 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The wt. of totally dry potatoes is 1 pound. So, the dry wt. of the potatoes ... after losing the water is 2%. Since this 2% is 1 pound ... as its dry weight should never change ... , the total wt. must now be 50 pounds. (1% = 1/2 pound of dry potatoes, ... times 100 for the total weight = 100 x .50 = 50 pounds)
2007-02-25 01:52:33 · answer #3 · answered by tom_terrific73 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
99/100 = 98/X
multiply both sides by 100x
99x = 9,800
divide both sides by 99
x = weight of potatoes = 98.98989898...
2007-02-25 00:49:42 · answer #4 · answered by tomkat1528 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋