Step 1a

The given flour-to-water ratio to prepare pizza dough is 12:16.

It means 12 cups of flour and 16 cups of water are needed to prepare pizza dough,

It can be written as \$12/16\$

On simplification, we get \$3/4\$

Explanation: Here we can simplified ratio.

Step 1b

Now that we know the simplified ratio, we can calculate how much water should be used when using 36 cups of flour. To do this, you can set up a proportion: \$3/4 = 36/x\$

Here, "x" represents the amount of water we want to find. To solve for x, we can cross-multiply: \$3 times x = 4 times 36\$

3x = 144.

Explanation: Here, we can find x.

Step 1c

Now, divide both sides by 3 to solve for x: \$(3x)/3 = 144/3\$

\$"x" = 144/3\$

x = 48

Explanation: Therefore, the pizza restaurant should use 48 cups of water to maintain the given flour-to-water ratio of 12:16 when using 36 cups of flour.