an 18 pound turkey cooks for 4.5 hours. how long will it take a 12 pound turkey to cook for?

Assuming that the times are proportional to the weights --

18/4.5 = 12/x

Cross multiply and solve for x.

3 hours

To determine how long it will take a 12-pound turkey to cook, we can use the 18-pound turkey as a reference. In this case, we can establish a relationship between the weight of the turkey and the cooking time.

First, let's calculate the turkey-to-cooking time ratio using the available information. We have an 18-pound turkey that cooks for 4.5 hours. To find the ratio, we can divide the cooking time by the turkey weight:

Turkey-to-cooking time ratio = Cooking time / Turkey weight
Turkey-to-cooking time ratio = 4.5 hours / 18 pounds
Turkey-to-cooking time ratio = 0.25 hours/pound

Next, we can use this ratio to calculate the cooking time for a 12-pound turkey:

Cooking time = Turkey weight * Turkey-to-cooking time ratio
Cooking time = 12 pounds * 0.25 hours/pound
Cooking time = 3 hours

Therefore, a 12-pound turkey will take approximately 3 hours to cook.