A recipe calls for 6 cups of milk to 8cups of flour. Write in simplest form, the ratio of number of cups of FLOUR to the number of cups of MILK in colon form. A. 4:3 B. 3:4 C. 3:3 D. 4:4
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answer: A. 4:3
To determine the correct ratio in simplest form, we need to compare the number of cups of flour to milk. The recipe calls for 8 cups of flour and 6 cups of milk. This gives us an initial ratio of:
8:6
Next, we simplify this ratio by dividing both numbers by their greatest common divisor. The greatest common divisor (GCD) of 8 and 6 is 2. We divide both terms of the ratio by 2:82:62=4:3\frac{8}{2} : \frac{6}{2} = 4:328:26=4:3
So, the simplest form of the ratio of flour to milk is 4:3, which corresponds to Answer A.
Explanation
Understanding ratios is important in cooking, especially when scaling a recipe up or down. A ratio compares two quantities relative to each other. In this case, we are asked to find the ratio of flour to milk based on the amounts given in a recipe: 8 cups of flour and 6 cups of milk.
We write this as a ratio in colon form: 8:6. However, this is not the simplest form. To simplify a ratio, we look for the greatest common divisor of both numbers, which is the largest number that divides both evenly. For 8 and 6, the greatest common divisor is 2.
Dividing both numbers in the ratio by 2, we get:
- 8 ÷ 2 = 4
- 6 ÷ 2 = 3
Thus, the simplified ratio becomes 4:3. This means that for every 4 parts of flour, there are 3 parts of milk. This is useful because if someone wanted to make a smaller or larger batch of the recipe, they could maintain the proper proportions using the simplified ratio.
It is also important to pay attention to the order in which the ingredients are listed. Since the question specifically asks for the ratio of flour to milk, we place flour first and milk second. If the question had asked for the ratio of milk to flour, the correct answer would have been 3:4, but that is not the case here.
Therefore, the correct answer is A. 4:3.
