How to calculate the percentage of your formula?
Accurately calculating the percentage of a particular solute is a necessity.
How to know one mixture from another
Determine the total volume/mass
For an example we will use a 50 ml formula.
Identify the volume of the component
For example 5 ml (or more often grams) of salt in water. This is applicable for any solution.
Calculate the percentage
Take the volume of the component/solute/solvent and divide it by the total volume of the solution than multiply by 100.
Example calculation
The percentage of 5 ml salt in a 50 ml solution of salt and water is equal to 10% (5/50*100)= 10%
Tips
Always have an accurate total volume of the solution your working with when calculating percentages.
Calculating the volume based on its percentage
If you know a component is 20% of the solution divide it (as a whole number without converting to a decimal) by 100. Multiply that number by the total volume for the amount in the solution or amount needed to obtain the correct percentage in a formula.
Example of volume based on desired percentage
(20/100)*50= 10ml of solution needed to obtain 20% solute in the total solution.
Tips
To check if you’ve done the calculations properly you can sum the calculated volumes of each ingredient to see if it is equal to the total mass of the solution.