Final answer:
The student will need to fill the 1/4 cup measuring cup 10 times to measure out 2 1/2 cups of flour, with 8 fills for the whole cups and an additional 2 fills for the half cup.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the number of times the student needs to fill the 1/4 cup measuring cup to get 2 1/2 cups of flour, we work with equivalent fractions and multiplication. Given that 1 cup is equal to 4 quarters of a cup, we can easily see that for a full cup, we would need to fill a 1/4 cup measuring cup 4 times.
To determine how many times you need to fill your 1/4 measuring cup with flour, you need to divide the total amount of flour needed by the amount that can be measured with each fill of the 1/4 measuring cup.
Since the recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of flour, and you can measure 1/4 cup each time, you will need to fill the 1/4 measuring cup 10 times to get the required amount of flour for the recipe.
For 2 1/2 cups, which is the same as 2 + 1/2 cups, we would calculate it as follows:
- For the 2 whole cups, we need 2 cups × 4 fills per cup = 8 fills.
- For the 1/2 cup, we can think of half a cup as being equivalent to 2 quarters, so it requires 2 fills of the 1/4 cup.
Therefore, in total, the student would need to fill the 1/4 cup measuring cup 10 times (8 for the whole cups + 2 for the half cup).