Jeanne is making a recipe that calls for $\frac{1}{3}$ teaspoon of salt, but she uses only $\frac{1}{2}$ that amount. How much salt does she use?
A. $\frac{1}{6}$ teaspoon
B. $\frac{1}{3}$ teaspoon
C. $\frac{3}{4}$ teaspoon
D. $\frac{7}{6}$ teaspoon
Answer (1)
The recipe calls for 3 1 teaspoon of salt.
Jeanne uses 2 1 of the amount called for in the recipe.
Multiply the two fractions: 2 1 × 3 1 = 6 1 .
Jeanne uses 6 1 teaspoon of salt.
Explanation
Understanding the Problem Jeanne is making a recipe that requires a certain amount of salt. The recipe calls for 3 1 teaspoon of salt. However, Jeanne only uses 2 1 of the amount specified in the recipe. We need to find out how much salt Jeanne actually uses.
Setting up the Calculation To find the amount of salt Jeanne uses, we need to multiply the amount of salt called for in the recipe by the fraction representing the portion Jeanne uses. This means we need to calculate 2 1 of 3 1 teaspoon.
Calculating the Amount of Salt Now, let's perform the multiplication: 2 1 × 3 1 = 2 × 3 1 × 1 = 6 1 So, Jeanne uses 6 1 teaspoon of salt.
Final Answer Jeanne uses 6 1 teaspoon of salt. Therefore, the correct answer is A.
Examples
Understanding fractions is very useful in cooking and baking. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 2 cup of flour, but you only want to make half of the recipe, you need to calculate 2 1 × 3 2 to find out how much flour you need. This type of calculation is also useful when you need to adjust ingredient quantities based on the number of servings you want to make. Knowing how to work with fractions allows you to easily scale recipes up or down.
