Monday, 8 August 2016

algebra precalculus - The drying water melon puzzle



I couldn't find an explanation to this problem that I could understand.




A watermelon consist of 99% water and that water measures 2 litre. After a day in the sun the water melon dries up and now consist of 98% water. How much water is left in the water melon?



I know the answer is ~1 litre, but why is that? I've read a couple of answers but I guess I'm a bit slow because I don't understand why.



EDIT
I'd like you to assume that I know no maths. Explain it like you would explain it to a 10 year old.


Answer



At the beginning the solid material is $1\%$ of the total which is a trifle (to be neglected) more than $1\%$ of $99\%$ of the total, or $1\%$ of $2000\ {\rm cm}^3$. Therefore the solid material has volume $\sim20\ {\rm cm}^3$.



After one day in the sun these $20\ {\rm cm}^3$ solid material are still the same, but now they make up $2\%$ of the total. Therefore the total now will be $1000\ {\rm cm}^3$ or $1$ litre. $98\%$ of this volume, or almost all of it, will be water.



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