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Hello,
the problem seemed easy enough. But I don't understand how it is possible to get the blending of testcase #4. 4 49 452 60 373 42 518
I get percentages of 42, 46.5, 51 and 55.5. The closest value to 49 is 49.01. Obviously I miss an important point, but which one?
Not sure I understand what you mean by "I get percentages of". I think it's reasonably clear that if we have a required volume (and enough whisky), there is never more than one way to blend to the required strength (unless you have the degenerate case of two whiskys of identical strength).
Thank you for answering.
What I mean is:
Taking the first test case, we need 500 litres with 46 percent alcohol. The two casks contain whisky with 40 percent and 50 percent respectively. The difference to the target percentage being 6 percent and 4 percent.
So for every 6 litres of 50 percent, we need 4 litres of 40 percent, making a base of 10 litres. As we need 500 litres, we need this base 50 times, giving 300 litres (50 %) and 200 litres (40 %).
Applying this to test case 4 gave no valid result.
So I created an excel sheet, with all possible combinations, but none resulted in a 49% (that's the percentage) blend.
Perhaps you could just tell me, how many litres for cask 1 and cask 2 you get for testcase 4?
Hi, There is nothing in the question that limits you to mixing integral quantities of the two whiskies. You can mix any amounts that you choose. The example used integral quantities in order to keep it simple. I wonder if this is the cause of your confusion. You refer to trying "all possible combinations". If you do not confine yourself to integer values then you have an infinite number of possible combinations. I hope this helps.
Perhaps you could just tell me, how many litres for cask 1 and cask 2 you get for testcase 4?
Ah, but the question is not to blend. The question is to check the possibility of blending to produce the required strength.
Thanks to both of you. I assumed indeed that quantities had to be integral. So, restart!