Question

Larry mixed 15 grams of salt with 210 grams of a 5% salt solution in water. What is the percent of salt in his new solution?

Answer 1

When the concentration of a solution is expressed in weight percentages, that is just equal to the mass of solute over the mass of the total solution. For a solution weighing 210 grams, 5% of it is salt. That is equal to

210*0.05= 10.5 g salt

The rest of the amount, determined by difference, is the amount of solvent which is water.

water = 210-10.5 = 199.5 g salt

To solve for the new concentration, you add up 15 g to the already existing 10.5 g of salt in the solution. The water, on the other hand, remains constant. 

Concentration = (15+10.5)/(210+15) = 0.1133 or 11.33%