The Potato Paradox Explained

This feels impossible. One hundred kilograms of potatoes. Ninety-nine percent of that weight is

water. That means only one kilogram is actual dry matter. And this part

does not change. Suppose they dry out until they are ninety-eight percent water.

Now, that constant one kilogram of dry matter must represent the remaining two

percent. If one kilogram is now two percent of the total weight,

how much do the potatoes weigh now? To double the percentage of the

solid part, the total mass must be cut in half. The final weight

is fifty kilograms. You have lost half the total weight just to lose one percent