Question

Maria has 5 cups of flour. She wants to make chocolate muffins for her friends. Each batch of muffins uses 2/4 cups of flour.how many batches can she make

Answer 1

10 batches

Explanation:

Since it takes 2/4 cups per batch and she only has 5 cups, you divide 5 by 2/4, which equals
`(5)/((2)/(4) )`. 2/4 can be simplified into 1/2 by dividing the numerator and denominator by their GCF (Greatest Common Factor), which is 2. When you divide anything by a fraction, you multiply that "anything" by the fraction's reciprocal. The reciprocal of a fraction is basically switching the positions of the numerator and denominator. For example, the reciprocal for 2/3 is 3/2. Using the rule above,
`(5)/((2)/(4) )` would equal
`(5)/((1)/(2) )`, since you can simplify 2/4, which would give you 5 times the reciprocal of 1/2, which is 2/1. However, any number n divided by 1 is just n, so 2/1 is basically just 2. 5 × 2 = 10 batches. To double-check your work, you can multiply 2/4 = 1/2 by 10, which you get 5. This matches the problem, which proves you have the right solution.

Therefore, Maria can make 10 batches.