perplexus.info :: Weights and Scales : You Say Potato

You Say Potato (Posted on 2003-06-04)

Let’s suppose that potatoes (by weight) are 99% water and 1%, well, potato!
If we take a 100 pound bag of potatoes out and put them in the hot June sun, the water will begin to evaporate. If we monitor the moisture content (which starts at 99%, of course) and we weigh the potatoes just when the moisture content gets to 98% (precisely), then how much will the potatoes weigh at that moment?

How much will they weigh when the moisture content is 50%?

Submitted by DJ

Rating: 4.3077 (13 votes)

Solution: (Hide)

50 lbs, 2 lbs

If a 100 lb bag of potatoes are 99% water and 1% potato, then of course there are 99 lb of water and only one pound of potato.
After any amount of water has evaporated, there will always be only one pound of potato.

So, if the moisture content of the potatoes gets to 98% water, that means the one pound of potato now comprises 2% of the total weight. So, the total weight is
1 lb/.02 = 50 pounds.

When the moisture content is 50%, there is still just one pound of potato, and therefore the other 50% is just one pound of water, for a total weight of two pounds.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)

Subject	Author	Date
Explanation to the Puzzle Answer	K Sengupta	2022-06-16 00:23:03
Puzzle Answer	K Sengupta	2022-06-15 03:34:46
Genetics and percentages	Lawrence	2003-08-24 18:04:53
The incredible shrinking potato ...	Lawrence	2003-08-24 17:51:17
Answer	Paul Spykerman	2003-07-12 10:15:34
No Subject	Viet	2003-07-11 09:06:56
solution	Bryan	2003-06-04 08:40:30
Solution	DuCk	2003-06-04 08:40:25

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