Question

On a package of rice, the directions say that the ratio of cups of water to cups of uncooked rice should be 1: 1 2 . a. What is the total number of cups of ingredients needed if you want to cook 1 2 cup of uncooked rice? ________________________________________ b. Susan says that the ratio of cups of water to total cups of ingredients is 1:2 because there is twice as much water as there is rice. Is this the correct ratio? Explain why or why not, and if not, give the correct ratio.

Answer 1

A) To cook 1/2 cup of rice, the package tells you that you also need 1 cup of water. The the total volume of ingredients is
.. 1/2 c + 1 c = 1 1/2 c


b) According to the package the ratio of water to rice is
.. water : rice = 1 : 1/2 = 2 : 1
Then the ratio of water to total ingredients is
.. water : (water + rice) = 2 : (2 +1) = 2 : 3

Susan's ratio is incorrect. Susan is using "1" for the total of ingredients, instead of 2+1 = 3. The correct ratio is 2:3.