MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
200 
AN EASY FORMULA FOR OBTAINING ALCOHOL OF ANY 
STRENGTH. 
RICHARD DE ZEEUW. 
For those who may have worked out a somewhat similar scheme, the 
following discussion may not have any particular interest. But I have 
not run across it anywhere in the literature. For that reason I thought 
it desirable to make a note of it here so that others might be enabled 
to make use of this convenient formula. 
Let x = the alcohol to be used. 
Let y = the alcohol to be made up. 
Let / — anv common divisor of both x and v. 
«/ i/ 
x — y 
= parts of water needed. 
z 
y 
— = parts of x alcohol needed in making v alcohol, 
z 
x — v y 
fj 
! — y (the alcohol desired). 
z z 
Example : 
95% — 70% 
— 5 (parts of water). 
70% 
= 14 (parts of 95% alcohol). 
5 
The advantage of this formula is that one can take any strength of 
alcohol that may happen to be at hand and dilute it to any other (lower) 
alcohol. Of course only alcohols of a lower percentage than the one 
used in making up another can be obtained. 
Usually 95% alcohol is used to make the weaker alcohols. This is 
figured on a basis of 19 units. Each unit is equal to 5% alcohol in 
the weaker alcohol. Thus, as a short cut we may take as many parts 
of 95% alcohol as the result of the desired alcohol divided by 5. Then 
add enough water to make 19 parts. 
East Lansing, Mich. 
27 
