Fruit for a dessert costs $1.20 a pound. If 5 pounds of fruit are needed to make a dessert that serves 18 people, what is the cost of the fruit needed to make enough of the same dessert to serve 24 people?

Answer

To solve the problem step by step, we will follow these calculations:

### Step 1: Determine the amount of fruit needed per person
We know that 5 pounds of fruit are needed to serve 18 people. To find out how much fruit is needed for one person, we divide the total amount of fruit by the number of people:

\[ \text{Fruit per person} = \frac{5 \text{ pounds}}{18 \text{ people}} = \frac{5}{18} \text{ pounds per person} \]

### Step 2: Calculate the total amount of fruit needed for 24 people
Now that we know how much fruit is needed for one person, we can find out how much is needed for 24 people by multiplying the amount of fruit per person by 24:

\[ \text{Total fruit for 24 people} = 24 \times \frac{5}{18} = \frac{120}{18} = \frac{20}{3} \text{ pounds} \]

### Step 3: Calculate the cost of the fruit
The cost of the fruit is given as $1.20 per pound. To find the total cost for the amount of fruit needed for 24 people, we multiply the total weight of the fruit by the cost per pound:

\[ \text{Cost} = \left(\frac{20}{3} \text{ pounds}\right) \times (1.20 \text{ dollars per pound}) \]

Calculating this gives:

\[ \text{Cost} = \frac{20}{3} \times 1.20 = \frac{20 \times 1.20}{3} = \frac{24}{3} = 8 \text{ dollars} \]

### Final Answer
The cost of the fruit needed to make enough dessert to serve 24 people is **$8**.

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