A baker created a graph showing the number of cakes baked on a particular day and the number of cups of flour used when making those cakes. She let x represent the number of cakes baked and y represent the cups of flour used. She then plotted the points (8, 20), (18, 45), (14, 35), (6, 15) and (23, 57.5) to represent the data from the last five days.

How much flour is used when baking each cake?

A. 

1/4

B. 

2/5

C. 

1 1/2

D. 

2 1/2

1 answer

To find how much flour is used when baking each cake, we can calculate the flour per cake for the points given in the graph. We will divide the number of cups of flour used \( y \) by the number of cakes baked \( x \) for each point:

  1. For the point (8, 20): \[ \text{Flour per cake} = \frac{20}{8} = 2.5 \text{ cups per cake} \]

  2. For the point (18, 45): \[ \text{Flour per cake} = \frac{45}{18} = 2.5 \text{ cups per cake} \]

  3. For the point (14, 35): \[ \text{Flour per cake} = \frac{35}{14} = 2.5 \text{ cups per cake} \]

  4. For the point (6, 15): \[ \text{Flour per cake} = \frac{15}{6} = 2.5 \text{ cups per cake} \]

  5. For the point (23, 57.5): \[ \text{Flour per cake} = \frac{57.5}{23} = 2.5 \text{ cups per cake} \]

In all cases, the calculation shows that the amount of flour used per cake is consistently \( 2.5 \) cups.

Thus, the answer is

D. \( 2 \frac{1}{2} \).