Question

The number of hot peppers in a salad is based on the number of servings, as shown in the table below.

Salad
Servings
Hot peppers
2
4
4
8
8
?
12
24

How many hot peppers are in an 8-serving salad?
12
14
16
32

Answer 1

To determine how many hot peppers are used in an 8-serving salad, we can observe the pattern in the table provided:

- For 2 servings, there are 4 hot peppers.
- For 4 servings, there are 8 hot peppers.
- For 8 servings, the number of hot peppers is unknown.
- For 12 servings, there are 24 hot peppers.

Let's find the ratio of the number of hot peppers to the number of servings.

From the table:
- For 2 servings: \( \frac{4 \text{ hot peppers}}{2 \text{ servings}} = 2 \text{ hot peppers per serving} \)
- For 4 servings: \( \frac{8 \text{ hot peppers}}{4 \text{ servings}} = 2 \text{ hot peppers per serving} \)
- For 12 servings: \( \frac{24 \text{ hot peppers}}{12 \text{ servings}} = 2 \text{ hot peppers per serving} \)

The pattern shows that the ratio is consistently 2 hot peppers per serving.

Now, let's apply this ratio to 8 servings:
- For 8 servings: \( 8 \text{ servings} \times 2 \text{ hot peppers per serving} = 16 \text{ hot peppers} \)

Thus, there are 16 hot peppers in an 8-serving salad.

The answer is **16**.