Question

Chef Selena is making her special dish that requires pasta, sauce, and onions. She has 5 1/8 pounds of pasta, 6 pounds of sauce, and 4 7/8 pounds of onions. How many servings of her dish can she make if each serving is 1/2 pound? Which two equations are needed to solve the problem?

Answer 1

`\text{Total Weight of Food Made}, x=5(1)/(8)+6+4(7)/(8)\\\text{Number of Servings}, y=x / (1)/(2)`

Explanation:

The Weight of Ingredients to be used by Chef Selena are:

• 
  `5(1)/(8)` pounds of pasta,
• 6 pounds of sauce; and
• 
  `4(7)/(8)` pounds of onions.

Total Weight of Food Made, x

`=5(1)/(8)+6+4(7)/(8)\\=5+6+4+(1)/(8)+(7)/(8)\\=16 \: Pounds`

Since each serving is
`(1)/(2) Pounds`

Number of Servings of her dish, y

`16 / (1)/(2)\\ =32 \: Servings`

The two equations needed to solve the problem are therefore:

`\text{Total Weight of Food Made}, x=5(1)/(8)+6+4(7)/(8)\\\text{Number of Servings}, y=x / (1)/(2)`