A muffin recipe calls for 3 3/4 cups of flour. If Corinne wants to cut the recipe in half, how much flour will she use?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To determine how much flour Corinne will use if she decides to cut the muffin recipe in half, we start with the total amount of flour required for the full recipe, which is (3 \frac{3}{4}) cups.
First, we need to convert the mixed number (3 \frac{3}{4}) into an improper fraction for easier calculations.
- Convert the Mixed Number to an Improper Fraction:
- To convert (3 \frac{3}{4}) to an improper fraction, we multiply the whole number (3) by the denominator (4) and then add the numerator (3).
- Calculation:
[
3 \times 4 + 3 = 12 + 3 = 15
] - Thus, (3 \frac{3}{4}) can be written as (\frac{15}{4}) cups.
- Divide the Amount by 2:
- Next, to find half of (\frac{15}{4}), we divide it by 2. Dividing by 2 is the same as multiplying by (\frac{1}{2}).
- Calculation:
[
\frac{15}{4} \times \frac{1}{2} = \frac{15 \times 1}{4 \times 2} = \frac{15}{8}
]
- Convert Back to a Mixed Number:
- Now, we can convert (\frac{15}{8}) back to a mixed number to make it easier to understand.
- To do this, we divide the numerator (15) by the denominator (8).
- Calculation:
[
15 \div 8 = 1 \quad \text{(with a remainder of 7)}
] - This means (\frac{15}{8}) can be expressed as (1 \frac{7}{8}).
In conclusion, if Corinne cuts the recipe in half, she will use (1 \frac{7}{8}) cups of flour. This conversion process highlights the importance of working with improper fractions to simplify operations and ensures the result is easily interpretable in a cooking context.