Cooper and Grace are making fruit salads for a picnic. Cooper mixes 5 cups of melon and 2 cups of apple and Grace mixes 8 cups of melon and 3 cups of apple. Use Cooper and Grace’s proportions of melon to determine whose fruit salad will taste more melony.

Cooper melon proportion (out of total) as fraction =

Grace melon proportion (out of total) as fraction =

Cooper’s fruit salad will be more melony.
Grace’s fruit salad will be more melony.
The two fruit salads will be equally melony.

1 answer

To determine whose fruit salad will taste more melony, we need to compare the proportions of melon in each salad.

Cooper's total fruit salad = 5 cups of melon + 2 cups of apple = 7 cups
Grace's total fruit salad = 8 cups of melon + 3 cups of apple = 11 cups

Cooper's melon proportion = 5 cups of melon / 7 cups total = 5/7
Grace's melon proportion = 8 cups of melon / 11 cups total = 8/11

To compare the two proportions, we can find a common denominator:
Cooper's melon proportion = (5/7) x (11/11) = 55/77
Grace's melon proportion = (8/11) x (7/7) = 56/77

Since Grace's melon proportion is higher than Cooper's, Grace's fruit salad will be more melony.