A recipe calls for #1/4# cup of sugar when being made for 4 people. How much sugar is needed if the recipe is adjusted to feed 7 people?

1 Answer
MathFact-orials.blogspot.com
Jan 13, 2017

#7/16# cup

Explanation:

We can use a ratio to find the answer. We can relate the original recipe in the numerators (4 people and #1/4# cup of sugar) and the adjusted amounts in the denominators (7 people and the amount of sugar needed):

#("4 people"/"7 people")=("1/4 cup"/"x cup")#

To make things easy, I'll drop the units:

#4/7=(1/4)/x#

We can now cross multiply to find #x#:

#4x=7/4#

#x=7/16#

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