ASVAB · Ratios, Proportions, and Rates

A recipe calls for 3 cups of flour for every 2 cups of sugar. How many cups of flour are needed for 8 cups of sugar?

Correct answer

12

  1. A 10
  2. B 14
  3. C 11
  4. D 12

Why this is the answer

Set up the proportion: 3/2 = x/8. Cross-multiply: 2x = 24, so x = 12 cups of flour. Think of it as a scale factor: 8 cups of sugar is 4 times the 2 cups in the recipe, so the flour also scales by 4: 3 × 4 = 12. Checking the distractors: 10 and 11 don't keep the 3:2 ratio (10:8 = 5:4, 11:8 is not a whole ratio), and 14 would be the answer to 3/2 = x/9.33, not x/8.
Source: ASVAB AR, Proportions

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About this topic: Ratios, Proportions, and Rates

Ratios, proportions and rates cover scale drawings, recipes, speed and unit prices. Almost every question reduces to setting two ratios equal and cross-multiplying — once you see that pattern the section becomes fast. This is one of 11 Arithmetic Reasoning questions on ratios, proportions, and rates, each with a full explanation on a single study page.

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