Question

A soup recipe calls for a common ratio of salt to pepper as ½ oz : ¼ oz. How much salt and pepper will be needed to create a seasoning mixture that has a total of 5 ¼ oz?

Answer 1

Pepper = 1¾ Oz

Salt = 3½ Oz

Explanation:

Given

Salt : Pepper = ½oz : ¼oz

Required

Determine the amount of salt and pepper needed for 5¼ Oz

For ease of calculation, we first convert the ratio to integers.

[Multiply ratio by 4]

Salt : Pepper = 4 * ½oz : 4 * ¼oz

Salt : Pepper = 2 Oz : 1 Oz

Total Ratio = 2 + 1 = 3

The amount of salt needed is then calculated as:

Salt = (Salt Ratio * 5¼)/(Total Ratio)

Salt = (2 * 5¼)/3

Salt = ⅔ * 5¼

Salt = ⅔ * 21/4

Salt = 42/12

Salt = 3½ Oz

Amount of Pepper is calculated as:

Pepper = (Pepper Ratio * 5¼)/(Total Ratio)

Pepper = (1 * 5¼)/3

Pepper = ⅓ * 5¼

Pepper = ⅓ * 21/4

Pepper = 21/12

Pepper = 1¾ Oz