Question

If a smoothie recipe calls for 8 pints of mango juice but only 10 cups of mango juice are available, what is the scaling factor the other ingredients in the recipe need to be multiplied by? PLEASE explain

Answer 1

The scale factor is the ratio  (a comparison of two numbers).

Note that 1 pint = 2 cups.

If a smoothie recipe calls for 8 pints of mango juice that is 8·2=16 cups, but only 10 cups of mango juice are available, then you have less than is needed and you have to multiply the other ingredients in the recipe by number that is less than 1 in order to decrease their amounts.

Thus, the scale factor is

$\dfrac{10}{16}=\dfrac{5}{8}.$

Answer: the other ingredients in the recipe need to be multiplied by $\dfrac{5}{8}.$