Each pound of potato salad serves 6 people and the average number of pounds of potato salad that each person is served will be [tex]\frac{1}{6}[/tex] pound.
Explanation
At a party of 102 people, 17 pounds of potato salad is served.
a. Suppose, each pound of potato salad is served to [tex]x[/tex] number of people.
So, 17 pounds of salad is served to [tex](17*x)[/tex] or [tex]17x[/tex] number of people. That means......
[tex]17x= 102\\ \\ x= \frac{102}{17}=6[/tex]
So, each pound of potato salad is served to 6 people.
b. Suppose, the average number of pounds of potato salad that each person is served is [tex]y[/tex]
So, the total number of pounds of salad, served to 102 people [tex]= (y*102)[/tex] pounds [tex]=102y[/tex] pounds. That means .....
[tex]102y= 17\\ \\ y= \frac{17}{102}= \frac{1}{6}[/tex]
So, the average number of pounds of potato salad that each person is served will be [tex]\frac{1}{6}[/tex] pound.