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ASVAB · Ratios, Proportions, and Rates

A recipe uses 3 cups of flour for every 2 cups of sugar. If you use 9 cups of flour, how many cups of sugar do you need?

Reviewed by Jordan Morley, Editorial Lead at 247SimpleTests. Written by the 247SimpleTests Editorial Team from the official source material cited on every question.

Correct answer

6 cups

  1. A 4 cups
  2. B 8 cups
  3. C 5 cups
  4. D 6 cups

Why this is the answer

Set up a PROPORTION: flour/sugar = 3/2 = 9/x. Cross-multiply: 3x = 2 × 9 = 18, so x = 6 cups of sugar. ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning tests ratios/proportions.

Shortcut: 9 cups of flour is 3 times the original 3 cups (9 ÷ 3 = 3), so multiply the sugar by 3 too: 2 × 3 = 6 cups. Strategy: keep the ratio consistent — whatever you multiply one part by, multiply the other part by the same factor. Check: 9/6 reduces to 3/2. ✓

Source: ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning — Proportions

Practice more questions

This question is from our ASVAB Practice Tests practice test. Take the full practice test to test your knowledge across all Ratios, Proportions, and Rates and other topics.

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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.

New to this exam? Our ASVAB exam guide explains the format, scoring, and how to prepare.

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