Asked by Anonymous

Cucumbers are on sale, so you buy 16 pounds of them at the local market for your restaurant. Each cucumber is actually 99% water. A few days later, the cucumbers have dried out to the point that each is now 80% water. How much do all your cucumbers weigh at this time?
Answered by Steve
.80 * 16 lbs
Answered by Anonymous
That is incorrect.
Answered by Steve
You are right.

They started out as 99% water, so there was
.99 * 16 = 15.84 lbs water
.01 * 16 = 0.16 lbs flesh

When they have dropped to 80% water, the 0.16 lbs flesh is still there, but it is now 20% of the weight. So,

0.16 = 0.20x
x = 0.8

so, the cucumbers now weigh 0.8 lbs.
Answered by Anonymous
Thank you!
Answered by Steve
you're welcome. Tricky problem, and easy to misinterpret, as I showed.
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