Kendra is making bread, but the recipe she is using makes 4 loaves. She only wants to make one loaf. The changed recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of flour and sugar combined. If the original recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, find the amount of flour (in cups) in the original recipe.
Let's call the amount of flour in the original recipe "x".
The amount of flour and sugar combined in the original recipe is "2x" (since she is using 2 cups of sugar and x cups of flour).
According to the changed recipe, she needs 2 1/2 cups of flour and sugar combined. Since she only wants to make one loaf, she needs 1/4 of the original amount.
Therefore, 1/4 of "2x" is 2 1/2 cups.
This can be expressed as the equation:
(1/4)(2x) = 2 1/2
Let's convert 2 1/2 to an improper fraction: 2 1/2 = (5/2)
Now we can solve for x:
(1/4)(2x) = 5/2
Multiplying through by 4:
2x = 20/2
2x = 10
Dividing both sides by 2:
x = 5
Therefore, the amount of flour in the original recipe is 5 cups.