Question

Helpers are needed to prepare for the fete. Each helper can make either 2 large cakes per hour, or 35 small cakes per hour. The kitchen is available for 3 hours and 20 large cakes and 700 small cakes are needed. How many helpers are required ?

Answer 1

If 20 large cakes are needed, you'll need 4 helpers. To find this, you first need to find how many cakes 1 helper can make. Every hour, one helper can make 2 large cakes. If they have the kitchen for 3 hours, 6 large cakes can be made by one helper. This also means that 2 helpers make 12 cakes, 3 helpers can make 18 cakes, and 4 helpers can make 24 cakes. Since you can't have a fraction of a helper, 4 is your answer. For the 700 small cakes, you do the same thing. Every hour, 1 helper makes 35 small cakes. In 3 hours, 1 helper can make 105 small cakes. 2 can make 210, 3 can make 315, 4 can make 420, 5 can make 525, 6 can make 630, and 7 can make 735. The 700 small cakes takes 7 helpers and the 20 large cakes takes 4 helpers. Your total amount of helpers is 11.