Question

A recipe says it produces the best sweet tea. In addition to using tea bags, the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar for every 1 1/2 cups of water.

Write an equation that represents the relationship between the number of cups of sugar (s) and the number of cups of water (w) in the recipe for the best sweet tea.
If you have 5 cups of water in your pitcher, how many cups of sugar will be needed to follow the recipe for the best sweet tea?

a) 1 1/2 cups
b) 1 1/4 cups
c) 3 cups
d) 2 1/2 cups

Answer 1

The equation relates the cups of sugar (s) to cups of water (w) as 3s = w. For 5 cups of water, we need 1 2/3 cups of sugar for the recipe, which is closest to 1 1/2 cups (Option a).

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves creating an equation to represent the relationship between the number of cups of sugar (s) and the number of cups of water (w) in a sweet tea recipe. We're given that 1/2 cup of sugar is needed for every 1 1/2 cups of water. To establish this relationship, we use a proportion based on the given ratio:

s / w = (1/2) / (1 1/2)

Next, we can simplify the ratio by multiplying both sides by 3 (to eliminate the fraction within the fraction on the right side), which gives us:

3s = w

For 5 cups of water in the pitcher (w = 5), the equation becomes:

3s = 5

Now, divide both sides by 3 to solve for s:

s = 5/3

s = 1 2/3 cups, which when rounded to the nearest option gives us 1 1/2 cups of sugar (Option a).