A dessert recipe call for 3 cups of flour and 1 cup of sugar. It serves 4 people. If the recipe must be altered to serve 12 people, how many cups of flour will be needed?

Since 12 is 3 times more than 4, what does that indicate to do with the ingredients?

To determine how many cups of flour will be needed to serve 12 people, we can use proportions.

In the original recipe, we have 3 cups of flour for 4 people. So, we can set up a proportion:

3 cups of flour / 4 people = x cups of flour / 12 people

To solve the proportion, we can cross-multiply:

4 * x cups of flour = 3 * 12 cups of flour

4x = 36

Now, let's solve for x by dividing both sides of the equation by 4:

x = 36 / 4
x = 9

Therefore, when the recipe is altered to serve 12 people, 9 cups of flour will be needed.