Question

A laboratory experiment requires mixing two solutions in the ratio of 2:3. If you have 250 ml of the first solution,
how much of the second solution do you need? Express your answer as a fraction and explain how you arrived
at your solution

Answer 1

To solve the problem of mixing two solutions in the ratio of 2:3, we start by understanding what this ratio means.

1. The ratio of 2:3 indicates that for every 2 parts of the first solution, there are 3 parts of the second solution.
2. This means the total parts in this ratio is \(2 + 3 = 5\) parts.

Next, we know you have 250 ml of the first solution, which corresponds to the "2 parts" of the ratio. To find out how much one part is in terms of volume, we can use the following calculation:

\[
\text{Volume of one part} = \frac{\text{Volume of first solution}}{2} = \frac{250 \, \text{ml}}{2} = 125 \, \text{ml}
\]

Now, to find the volume of the second solution needed, which corresponds to the "3 parts" of the ratio, we perform the following calculation:

\[
\text{Volume of second solution} = 3 \times \text{Volume of one part} = 3 \times 125 \, \text{ml} = 375 \, \text{ml}
\]

So, you need 375 ml of the second solution.

Finally, if we want to express this amount as a fraction, we can just take the volume of the second solution as a simple fraction:

\[
\frac{375}{1}
\]

Thus, the answer is \(375\) ml or as a fraction, \(\frac{375}{1}\).