What does a 5% alcohol content in fuel indicate when performing an alcohol test?

A 5% alcohol content in fuel indicates that there are 5 mL of alcohol present for every 100 mL of fuel. When interpreting the question and the options, it’s important to understand how alcohol content is typically expressed in fuels.

In this case, if we take a total volume of 100 mL of fuel, 5% alcohol means that out of every 100 mL, 5 mL is alcohol, leaving 95 mL as non-alcoholic components, which are primarily hydrocarbons from the fuel itself. The choices presented indicate mixes of water and fuel, and the one that truly reflects the nature of the 5% alcohol content is that it is a total volume measurement rather than a mixture of water or other variables in relation to the fuel.

The answer option indicating 15 mL of water mixed with 100 mL of fuel does not accurately reflect the 5% alcohol content concept in terms of its ratio and constitutes an incorrect mix for this specific scenario. Therefore, the explanation surrounding the 5% alcohol in fuel primarily revolves around recognizing the proportional relationship of alcohol within a standard measurement of fuel volume.