Problema Solution

A petroleum company has two different sources of crude oil. The first source provides crude oil that is 65% hydrocarbons, and the second one provides crude oil that is 90% hydrocarbons. In order to obtain 40 gallons of crude oil that is 85% hydrocarbons, how many gallons of crude oil must be used from each of the two sources?

Answer provided by our tutors

let


x = gallons crude oil that is 65% hydrocarbons

y = gallons crude oil that is 90% hydrocarbons


we need to obtain 40 gallons


x + y = 40


65% of x hydrocarbons + 90% of y hydrocarbons = 85% of 40 hydrocarbons


0.65*x + 0.9*y = 0.85*40


by solving the system of equations


x + y = 40

0.65*x + 0.9*y = 0.85*40


we find


x = 8 gallons


y = 32 gallons


we must use 8 gallons of crude oil that is 65% hydrocarbons and 32 gallons of crude oil that is 90% hydrocarbons.