Exercising causes an athlete’s body to lose potassium, and it is important to replenish this nutrient after a race.For middle-school students, the recommended amount of potassium intake is 4.5 grams per day. If a student athlete eats a banana containing 0.54 grams of potassium, and drinks 6 ounces of orange juice containing 0.372 grams of potassium, how many more grams of potassium does she need?How can you find how many more grams of potassium the athlete needs to reach the recommended amount?To solve this problem, I would

1 answer

To find out how many more grams of potassium the athlete needs to reach the recommended amount of 4.5 grams per day, follow these steps:

  1. Calculate Total Potassium Intake from the Banana and Orange Juice:

    • Potassium from the banana: 0.54 grams
    • Potassium from the orange juice: 0.372 grams
    • Total potassium intake = potassium from banana + potassium from orange juice

    \[ \text{Total potassium} = 0.54 , \text{grams} + 0.372 , \text{grams} = 0.912 , \text{grams} \]

  2. Determine the Recommended Amount of Potassium:

    • Recommended potassium intake: 4.5 grams
  3. Calculate the Shortfall:

    • To find out how much more potassium the athlete needs, subtract the total potassium she has already consumed from the recommended amount.

    \[ \text{Additional potassium needed} = \text{Recommended potassium} - \text{Total potassium} \] \[ \text{Additional potassium needed} = 4.5 , \text{grams} - 0.912 , \text{grams} = 3.588 , \text{grams} \]

  4. Final Result: The athlete needs 3.588 grams more of potassium to reach the recommended intake of 4.5 grams.

In summary: the athlete needs 3.588 grams of potassium more after consuming the banana and orange juice to meet the recommended daily intake.