Question

Lydia is making spaghetti sauce at a community luncheon. Each batch requires 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt, 1⁄3 teaspoon of oregano, 1⁄4 teaspoon of crushed thyme, and 1⁄8 teaspoon of black pepper. Which spice is used in the largest quantity in Lydia's recipe?

Answer 1

Salt is used in the largest quantity in Lydia's recipe.

Explanation

Required spices are......

Salt = $\frac{1}{2}$ teaspoon , Oregano = $\frac{1}{3}$ teaspoon, Crushed thyme = $\frac{1}{4}$ teaspoon and Black peeper = $\frac{1}{8}$ teaspoon

For finding the largest quantity, first we need to make the denominators of each fraction as equal and then identify the largest numerator.  

The denominators are 2, 3, 4 and 8 and their LCM(Least common multiple) will be 24. So.....

$\frac{1}{2}= \frac{1*12}{2*12}=\frac{12}{24} \\ \\ \frac{1}{3}=\frac{1*8}{3*8}=\frac{8}{24}\\ \\ \frac{1}{4}=\frac{1*6}{4*6}=\frac{6}{24}\\ \\ \frac{1}{8}=\frac{1*3}{8*3}=\frac{3}{24}$

As the largest numerator is 12 here, so the value of $\frac{1}{2}$ is largest among all the fractions.

Thus, Salt is used in the largest quantity in Lydia's recipe.