7 13 and 56 104 Yes, the values are equal. No, the values are not equal. Using Proportions to Solve Real-World Problems: Have you ever wanted to triple the recipe of your favorite chocolate chip cookies and was unsure how to do so to avoid adding too much baking soda? Or, have you ever looked at a map and wondered how many actual miles 2 centimeters might be? Setting up proportions is an excellent way to solve both problems! Example 6: Debbie has a casserole recipe that makes eight servings. She needs five cups of pasta to make eight servings. How many cups of pasta does Debbie need to make 24 servings? How can we help Debbie? Step 1: Set up the values that you have: 5 cups of pasta 8 servings = p 24 servings (Let's use "p" to stand for the unknown amount of pasta) * Note: the values for pasta are the numerators and the values for servings are denominators. When setting up such problems, it does not matter if pasta is the numerator or the denominator; however, we cannot mix them up. The pasta values have to remain consistent - either both as numerators or both as denominators. Step 2: Cross multiply the two values that you have: 5 8 = p 24 5 x 24 = 8 x p 120 = 8p Step 3: To find p (the amount of pasta), divide both sides of the equation by 8 to isolate p. 120 8 = 8p 8