o) Fred has 35 kg of copper and 12 kg of zinc. What is the greatest amount of brass he can make?

This question focused on the creation and composition of certain alloys. In this case, we are interested in the production of brass which is an alloy made primarily of copper and zinc. To attain a rough estimate of how much brass can be produced we must add up the total weight of copper and zinc available. The greater the combined amount of these, the more potential brass can be produced. So, Fred can use all of copper and all of zinc to make brass. Hence, he would add these amounts together as this total weight will combine to make up the total weight of the brass. Since we are assuming efficient utilization of materials and lossless conversion, with no other substances detracting from this weight, the question requires only a simple addition.