Cory knows that 16 tablespoons are the same as one cup. He needs to measure 3/4 cup, but all he has is a tablespoon. How many tablespoons should he Cory use?

Question

this is about solving problems with unit rate 

Answer 1

Hi Akelia.

 

This question is about converting units.

 

If you treat the units like they were numbers, you can figure out when you need to multiply and when you need to divide.

 

What I mean is this:   If you have (2/3) * 3  the "3"s will cancel, and you will be left with 2.

 

With units, if you have 3 inches but you want it in feet, start with

 

3 inches * (what you want in here has feet on top and inches on the bottom so that the "inches" will cancel and you will be left with 'feet')

 

3 in * (1 foot/12 in) = 3/12 = 1/4 foot.

 

 

Knowing that 16 tablespoons = 1 cup, and knowing we want to change 3/4 cup into tablespoons, we start with the 3/4 cup.

 

 

3/4 cup *  _______      What you want in the blank is a number in tablesppons on top and cups on bottom so the cups cancel.

 

 

3/4 cup *  16 tablespoons/1 cup  = (3)(16)/4 = 12 tablespoons.