Question

A butler stole wine from a butt of sherry which contained 30$\%$ of spirit and he replaced the exact same amount by a cheap wine which contained only 12$\%$ of spirit. The butt was then only 18$\%$ strong. How much of the butt did he steal?

• A. 2/3
• B. 3/4
• C. 1/3
• D. 1/4
• E. 1/2

Answer 1

The correct option is A

2/3

By the alligation rule we find that wine contains 30$\%$ of spirit and wine containing 12$\%$ of spirit should be mixed in the ratio 1:2 to produce a mixture containing 18$\%$ of spirit.

$\text{Ratio = 6:12 = 1:2}\text{This means that}\frac{1}{3}\text{of the butt of sherry was left, i.e. to say,}\text{the butler drew out}\frac{2}{3}\text{of the butt.}\therefore \frac{2}{3}\text{of the butt was stolen.}$