Question

Marta wants to use her mothers recipe. Her mother's recipe makes enough soup for 10-12 people, but Marta wants to make only 1/3 of that amount. If the original recipe requires 2 1/2 pounds of chicken, how many pounds of chicken will Marta need for her soup?

Answer 1

Marta wants to make 1/3 of her mother’s recipe, which calls for 2 1/2 pounds of chicken. To find out how much chicken Marta needs to use, we must multiply 1/3 by 2 1/2.

However, first we need to turn 2 1/2 into an improper fraction to make the multiplication simpler. To do this, we should multiply the unit (2) by the denominator (2) and add the numerator (1).

2*2=4, 4+1 = 5, therefore, 2 1/2 = 5/2

Now, we have to multiply 5/2 by 1/3. To do this, we just multiply the two numerators and the two denominators together.

5/2 * 1/3 = 5*1/2*3=5/6

Therefore, Marta needs to use 5/6 pounds of chicken for the recipe.

Hope this helps!