Holt.Blue
Back to POW Page

Problem of the Week 7.

Directions: Show all necessary steps and calculations for the problem below. As usual, do not be shy in using language to explain your solution.

Billy Bob Buys a Neti Pot

Billy Bob just bought a neti pot. The instructions recommend using a saline solution warmed slightly to $30$ degrees Celsius. If Billy gets $100 \mbox{ ml}$ of distilled water up to boiling ($100$ degrees Celsius), how many milliliters of room temperature distilled water ($20$ degrees Celsius) should Billy Bob add to achieve the desired temperature?

Hint: If you have $m_1$ milliliters of water at temperature $T_1$ degrees Celsius, and $m_2$ milliliters of water at temperature $T_2$ degrees Celsius, then the final temperature after mixing, $T_f$, is given by the formula $$T_f=\frac{T_1 m_1 + T_2 m_2}{m_1+m_2}.$$