Mixture word problems, step by step
Two things at two prices, poured into one bag: what does the blend cost?
The question
What is the price per kg of the blend?
A store blends 2 kg of milk chocolate at $36 a kg with 4 kg of dark chocolate at $54 a kg.
2 × 36 + 4 × 54 = 288
2 × 36 + 4 × 54 = 288
288 ÷ 6 = $48
asked:What is the price per kg of the blend?
$48
- Read it through once. Two things at DIFFERENT rates are combined. You cannot just average the two rates — the bigger amount pulls the blend toward its own rate, so each rate has to be WEIGHTED by how much of it there is.
- Weight each amount by its rate and add them up: 2 × 36 + 4 × 54 = 288. That is the total spread across the whole mixture.
- Now divide that total by how much there is altogether: 288 ÷ 6 = $48.
- Answer the question that was asked — "What is the price per kg of the blend?" — $48.
How it works.
- 01
Read it through once. Two things at DIFFERENT rates are combined. You cannot just average the two rates — the bigger amount pulls the blend toward its own rate, so each rate has to be WEIGHTED by how much of it there is.
- 02
Weight each amount by its rate and add them up: 2 × 36 + 4 × 54 = 288. That is the total spread across the whole mixture.
- 03
Now divide that total by how much there is altogether: 288 ÷ 6 = $48.
- 04
Answer the question that was asked — "What is the price per kg of the blend?" — $48.