To solve this problem, we start by recognizing that skim milk is made up of 87% water. We want to find out how many cups of skim milk are required to have 3.58 cups of water.
Given that skim milk is 87% water, we write the percentage as a decimal by dividing 87 by 100:
87% = \(\frac{87}{100} = 0.87\).
Now, we have 3.58 cups of water, and we're looking for the total number of cups of skim milk that contain this exact amount of water.
Since the water makes up 87% (0.87) of the skim milk, to find the total cups of skim milk, we must divide the cups of water by the water percentage in decimal form:
Total cups of skim milk = \(\frac{\text{Cups of water}}{\text{Water percentage}}\).
Substituting the given values, we get:
Total cups of skim milk = \(\frac{3.58}{0.87}\).
Calculating this gives us:
Total cups of skim milk ≈ 4.11.
Therefore, approximately 4.11 cups of skim milk contain 3.58 cups of water.
The closest answer choice is:
D. 4.11 cups.
