Question

A recipe calls for 3 cups of flour for every 5 eggs. How many cups of flour do you need for every 1 egg?

Answer 1

`\boxed {\boxed {\sf \frac {3}{5} \ or \ 0.6 \ cups \ of \ flour}}`

Explanation:

Let's set up a proportion using this setup.

`\frac { flour}{ eggs}=\frac { flour}{ eggs}`

We know that 3 cups of flour are needed for every 5 eggs.

`\frac {3 \ cups \ flour}{5 \ eggs}=\frac { flour}{ eggs}`

We don't know how many cups are needed for 1 egg, so we say x cups for 1 egg.

`\frac {3 \ cups \ flour}{5 \ eggs}=\frac { x \ cups \ flour}{ 1 \ egg}`

`\frac {3 }{5 }=\frac { x }{ 1 }`

We are solving for x, so we must isolate the variable. x is being divided by 1. The inverse of division is multiplication, so multiply both sides by 1.

`1*(3)/(5)= \frac {x}{1}*1\\`

`(3)/(5)=x`

`0.6=x`

For every 1 egg, 3/5 or 0.6 cups of flour are needed.