Question

If an 8" X 8" square cake serves 8 people, how many 24" X 24" square cakes are needed for a

wedding attended by 144 people?

Answer 1

2 24" X 24" square cakes are needed.

Explanation:

This question is solved by proportions.

Area of a square:

The area of a square of side l is given by:

`A = l^2`

8" X 8" square cake serves 8 people

Thus:

`A = 8*8 = 64`

Area of 64 serves 8 people, so for 1 people, an area of 64/8 = 8 is needed.

144 people

The total area needed is:

`A = 144*8 = 1152`

How many 24" X 24" square cakes?

24*24 = 576

1 cake - 576

x cakes - 1152

Applying cross multiplication:

1152/576 = 2

2 24" X 24" square cakes are needed.