Question

A soup recipe calls for 1/4 pound of onions and 3/8 pound of mushrooms. How many more pounds of mushrooms are used in the soup than pounds of onions?

Answer 1

To determine how many more pounds of mushrooms are used than onions, we need to subtract the weight of the onions from the weight of the mushrooms.

The recipe calls for:
- Onions: \( \frac{1}{4} \) pound
- Mushrooms: \( \frac{3}{8} \) pound

First, we need to find a common denominator to perform the subtraction. The denominators are 4 and 8. The least common denominator (LCD) is 8.

We can convert \( \frac{1}{4} \) to a fraction with a denominator of 8:
\[
\frac{1}{4} = \frac{2}{8}
\]

Now we have:
- Onions: \( \frac{2}{8} \) pound
- Mushrooms: \( \frac{3}{8} \) pound

Now, we can find the difference:
\[
\frac{3}{8} - \frac{2}{8} = \frac{1}{8}
\]

Thus, there are \( \frac{1}{8} \) pounds more mushrooms than onions.