Penelope's cookie recipe calls for 3/4 of a pound of butter. If she only wants to make 1/2 of the recipe, how many pounds of butter should she use? Show your work.
1/4
Fat
1+1 = 1
To find out how many pounds of butter Penelope should use if she wants to make 1/2 of the recipe, we can use a basic proportion.
Given: The original recipe calls for 3/4 of a pound of butter, and she wants to make 1/2 of the recipe.
Let x be the unknown amount of butter in pounds that Penelope should use.
We can set up the proportion as follows:
Amount of butter / Original recipe = Amount of butter / Desired recipe
3/4 lb / 1 = x lb / 1/2
Now, we can cross-multiply and solve for x:
(3/4) * (1/2) = 1 * x
3/8 = x
So, Penelope should use 3/8 of a pound (or 0.375 pounds) of butter for 1/2 of the recipe.
Alternatively, to simplify the fraction further, we can divide both the numerator and the denominator by 8:
3/8 = (3 ÷ 8) / (8 ÷ 8) = 3/8 = 0.375 pounds
Therefore, Penelope should use 0.375 pounds of butter.
Multiply:
(3/4) * (1/2) = _______ pound