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While reading one aptitude book, I came across this question:

$35\%$ alcohol mixed with $60\%$ alcohol to get a $50\%$ alcohol. In what ratio were they mixed?

I spent 20 minutes on this question, but I couldn't even figure out what it means! Could anyone explain this to me?

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    this seems more of a homework question. Anyway, 35% alcohol means that in a liter of mixture there is 35 cl of alcohol and 65 cl of other stuff (probably water).2010-08-02
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    This question is asking what this question means, not for a solution. Therefore, I think that it is a perfectly valid question. I can't undo my close vote, but I tidied it up a bit2010-08-02
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    so the question is not precalculus algebra, but notation... (and in my previous comment I answered *that* question :-)2010-08-02
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    Dear Nitesh, The question is asking the following: a person was given one bottle which was 35% alcohol (the rest water, presumably) and another bottle that was 65% alcohol. They then mixed them in some proportion in a new bottle, producing a drink that was 50% alcohol. You have to figure out what the proportion was. (Your answer will be of the form "two litres of bottle one for every litre of bottle two", or, more abstractly "they were mixed in a ratio of 2:1". (I just made up the numbers 2 and 1 here, they are not the correct answer. It is just to show you what the answer will look like.)2010-08-02
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    @Matt: That would be a perfect answer, if the question was open2010-08-03

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