At the Roseville Middle School Spring Festival, Ellen is running the egg-dying station. She needs 5 tablespoons of vinegar for every 2 color tablets she uses. Ellen plans to use 16 color tablets.

Question

How many tablespoons of vinegar will Ellen need?

Answer 1

To determine how many tablespoons of vinegar Ellen will need for 16 color tablets, we start by establishing the ratio of vinegar to color tablets based on the information given.

Ellen needs 5 tablespoons of vinegar for every 2 color tablets.

First, we find out how many sets of 2 color tablets are in 16 color tablets:

\[ \text{Number of sets} = \frac{16 \text{ color tablets}}{2 \text{ color tablets per set}} = 8 \text{ sets} \]

Now, we calculate the total amount of vinegar needed by multiplying the number of sets by the amount of vinegar required per set:

\[ \text{Total vinegar} = 8 \text{ sets} \times 5 \text{ tablespoons of vinegar per set} = 40 \text{ tablespoons of vinegar} \]

Thus, Ellen will need a total of

\[ \boxed{40} \]

tablespoons of vinegar for 16 color tablets.