For a given recipe, 3 cups of flour are mixed with 12 cups of sugar. How many cups of flour should be used if 48 cups of sugar are being used?
Assuming a constant ratio, fill out the table of equivalent ratios until you have found the value of x.
Flour Sugar
3 12
____ _____
x 48
To find the equivalent ratio, we can set up a proportion:
3/12 = x/48
Cross multiply to solve for x:
12x = 3 * 48
12x = 144
x = 144/12
x = 12
So, if 48 cups of sugar are being used, 12 cups of flour should be used.