One pot of chili requires 3/8 cup of chicken and 1/4 tsp pepper. There is 1 7/8 cups of chicken and 1 1/2 tsp pepper. How many pots of chili can be made?

Question

Word problem involving fractions 

Answer 1

For this problem we must determine how many pots of chili we can possibly make having each amount of ingredients then choose the smallest number.

For the chicken, it takes 3/8 cup of chicken for 1 pot of chili. So, if we have 1 7/8 cups of chicken, at most we could make

(1 7/8)/(3/8) = 5 pots of chili. 

For the pepper, it takes 1/4 tsp to make 1 pot of chili. So, if we have 1 1/2 tsp of pepper, at most we could make (1 1/2)/(1/4) = 6 pots of chili.

Therefore, the most we could make with these amounts of ingredients would be 5 pots.

Answer 2

1 7/8 in eights is 15/8.  So, there are five 3/8 sized  portions available.

 

1 1/2 t in halves is 3/2 or 6/4. So, there are six 1/4 sized portions available.

 

Therefore, the chicken is limiting.  Five pots of chili can be made.