Question

Question #ed2d6

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

We can restate this question as:

What is `1/x` of `3 1/4"cups"`?

First, rewrite the mixed number as an improper fraction:

`3 1/4 = 3 + 1/4 = (4/4 xx 3) + 1/4 = 12/4 + 1/4 = (12 + 1)/4 = 13/4`

Let's call the amount of water Elaine should use: `w`

In problems like these the word "of" means to multiply.

We can write the equation and solve for `w` as:

`w = 1/x xx 13/4"cups"`

`w = (1 xx 13)/(x xx 4)"cups"`

`w = 13/(4x)"cups"`

If Elaine is going to make `1/x` of a recipe then Elaine should us `13/(4x)"cups"` of water