Revise, Reflect, Refine
Solve the following problems: (i) A cake recipe uses dry ingredients, namely 75 g of sugar for 420 g of all-purpose flour and 5 g of sodium hydrogencarbonate. Express the concentration of each component in the mixture using an appropriate method. (ii) A brass alloy contains 70% copper by mass. Calculate the quantities of copper and zinc present in 120 g of brass.
Part (i): Use mass percentage (% m/m) because the mixture consists of solids mixed together.
Total mass of dry ingredients = 75 + 420 + 5 = 500 g
Mass% of sugar = (75 / 500) × 100 = 15.0%
Mass% of flour = (420 / 500) × 100 = 84.0%
Mass% of NaHCO3 = (5 / 500) × 100 = 1.0%
Verification: 15.0 + 84.0 + 1.0 = 100% ✓
Part (ii): Brass = copper + zinc, with copper = 70% by mass.
Mass of copper = 70% of 120 g = (70/100) × 120 = 84 g
Mass of zinc = 120 − 84 = 36 g
Answer: (i) Sugar: 15.0%, All-purpose flour: 84.0%, Sodium hydrogencarbonate: 1.0% (by mass). (ii) Copper: 84 g, Zinc: 36 g (in 120 g of brass).
