British sterling silver is a copper-silver alloy that is 7.5% copper by weight. How many grams of pure copper and how many grams of British sterling silver should be used to prepare 170 grams of a copper-silver alloy that is 16% copper by weight?

1 answer

x = grams of copper
0.075x = value of copper
170 - x = grams of silver
0.925(170 - x) = value of silver (100 - 7.5 = 92.5)
.16(170) = value of mixture

0.075x + 0.925(170 - x ) = 0.16(170)

Solve for x, grams of copper
(170 - x) = grams of silver