Scale ingredient quantities while keeping exact fractions

# Exact ingredient-scaling worksheet

Illustrative answer to the fictional arithmetic fixture. This is not a recommended, adapted or tested cooking recipe. No AI service or cooking session was run.

## Yield and factor

Source yield: 4 portions [Y01]. Target yield: 6 portions [Y02].

Scale factor = target / source = 6/4 = 3/2. The portion units cancel. Require known, positive source and target yields with the same yield unit before calculating.

## Checked quantities

| ID | Source | Exact multiplication | Scaled rational | Readable amount | Review |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| I01 | 300 g flour | (300/1) × (3/2) | 450/1 g | 450 g | Exact arithmetic only |
| I02 | 200 mL milk | (200/1) × (3/2) | 300/1 mL | 300 mL | Exact arithmetic only |
| I03 | 3/4 cup sugar | (3/4) × (3/2) | 9/8 cup | 1 1/8 cup | Cup standard remains unspecified |
| I04 | 1 egg | (1/1) × (3/2) | 3/2 egg | 1 1/2 egg | Fractional item; cook decision pending |
| I05 | 1/2 teaspoon spice | (1/2) × (3/2) | 3/4 teaspoon | 3/4 teaspoon | Exact arithmetic only |
| I06 | seasoning to taste | No numeric multiplication | Unquantified | to taste | Cook decision pending |

Keep original units. No rounding has been applied. Do not add quantities with different units into a meaningless total. A rational pair such as numerator 9 and denominator 8 is authoritative; the mixed fraction is a readable rendering, not a decimal approximation. CSV software may reinterpret fraction text as dates, so import scaled_amount as text and retain the numeric numerator/denominator fields. The CSV is a checked static worksheet, not a live recalculating spreadsheet.

## Two decisions remain open

- I04: The arithmetic returns 1 1/2 egg. No automatic replacement, rounding to 1 or 2 eggs, or egg-handling instruction is supplied. The cook must resolve this with a trusted appropriate recipe before treating the list as usable cooking instructions.
- I06: Seasoning stays “to taste,” with blank quantity numerator, denominator and unit. Blank here means unquantified, not zero. The cook still needs to resolve it.

No cup standard or ingredient-specific density was supplied. There is no justified cup-to-gram conversion. A different standard, substitution or portion definition requires new source information and a fresh calculation.

## Source reference notes, unchanged

Method: not supplied.
Cooking time: not supplied.
Cooking temperature: not supplied.
Cookware: not supplied.
Storage directions: not supplied.

These notes are retained as source reference, not adapted instructions. Ingredient scaling does not establish suitable times, temperatures, cookware, storage, nutrition, allergies, safety or an equivalent cooking outcome.

## Reuse and audit

1. Copy the blank worksheet and record source ID, source yield and unit, target yield and unit. Do not proceed with an unknown/zero source yield or mismatched yield units.
2. Transcribe each ingredient once with its original unit and exact fraction. Preserve unquantified qualifiers separately.
3. Reduce target/source to an exact factor. Multiply numerator by numerator and denominator by denominator, then reduce by their greatest common divisor. Keep the ingredient unit unchanged.
4. Render improper fractions as mixed fractions without rounding. Mark fractional count items and unquantified amounts for a cook's decision; do not replace them automatically.
5. Independently check each row against the source and answer key, then retain source method notes unchanged. Actual cooking and any AI workflow remain unperformed.