Question

Sandra is making cookies that require 5 1/2 cups of oatmeal. She has only two measuring cups: a one-half cup and a three-fourths cup. What is the smallest number of scoops that she could make in order to get 5 172 cups?

Answer 1

4 scoops

Explanation:

We have to obtain 5 1/2 cups of oatmeal, that is: 2.5 cups

we only have two measures: 1/2= (0.5) and 3/4 =(0.75)

We're going to use the larger scoops first, we can notices if we use 2 scoops of 3/4 we obtain:

`cups=(2)*(3)/(4)=(6)/(4)=(3)/(2)=1.5cups`

now if we add 2 scoops of 1/2 that is 1 cup, so, two scoops of 3/4 and two scoops of 1/2 is 2.5 cups = 5 1/2 cups

this is the minimum, if you try with three scoops of 3/4 you will obtain 2.25 cups and if you add a scoop of 1/2 you will obtain more than the measure needed. If you try only with 1/2 cup scoop, you will need 5 scoops