Question

Ordinary corn syrup contains dextrose sugar. A process called enzyme conversion changes it into a syrup that is 42% fructose. This new syrup can be further treated with fractionation columns to make a syrup that is 95% fructose (high fructose corn syrup). Manufacturers of soft drinks, ice cream, and frozen desserts blend 95% fructose syrup and 42% fructose syrup to produce a 55% fructose syrup.† Use a system of equations to find the number of gallons of 42% fructose syrup and the number of gallons of 95% fructose syrup needed to produce 3000 gallons of 55% fructose syrup. Round to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

If there are x gallons of 42% syrup, and y gallons of 95% syrup, then

x+y = 3000
.42x + .95y = .55(3000)

now just solve for x and y