Multiplication as Scaling Math Example 1

Follow the full solution, then compare it with the other examples linked below.

Example 1

easy
A recipe uses 3 cups of flour. If you make the recipe 4 times bigger, how many cups of flour do you need?

Solution

  1. 1
    Original amount: 3 cups.
  2. 2
    Scale factor: 4 (making it 4 times bigger).
  3. 3
    Multiply: \(3 \times 4 = 12\) cups.
  4. 4
    You need 12 cups of flour.

Answer

12 cups
Scaling by a factor means multiplying. Making something 4 times bigger means multiplying by 4.

About Multiplication as Scaling

Understanding multiplication as resizing or scaling a quantity by a factor. Multiplying by 2 doubles, by 0.5 halves, and by 1 leaves unchanged — it stretches or shrinks the original number.

Learn more about Multiplication as Scaling →

More Multiplication as Scaling Examples

Example 2 medium

A drawing of a cat is 5 cm tall. You scale it up to be 3 times taller. How tall is the scaled drawin

Example 3 easy

A plant is 8 inches tall. After one month it is 2 times taller. How tall is it now?

Example 4 medium

A photo is 4 inches wide. A poster version is 6 times wider. How wide is the poster?

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