To simplify this fraction, first find the greatest common factor between them. The factors of 20 are [1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20] and the factors of 76 are [1, 2, 4, 19, 38, 76]. They share 3 factors [1, 2, 4] making 4 their greatest common factor (GCF).

Next, divide both numerator and denominator by the GCF:

\( \frac{20}{76} \) = \( \frac{\frac{20}{4}}{\frac{76}{4}} \) = \( \frac{5}{19} \)

Calculate the number of vans needed by dividing the number of people that need transported by the capacity of one van:

vans = \( \frac{96}{12} \) = 8

If a single cook can bake 4 large cakes per hour and the kitchen is available for 3 hours, a single cook can bake 4 x 3 = 12 large cakes during that time. 25 large cakes are needed for the party so \( \frac{25}{12} \) = 2\(\frac{1}{12}\) cooks are needed to bake the required number of large cakes.

If a single cook can bake 20 small cakes per hour and the kitchen is available for 3 hours, a single cook can bake 20 x 3 = 60 small cakes during that time. 200 small cakes are needed for the party so \( \frac{200}{60} \) = 3\(\frac{1}{3}\) cooks are needed to bake the required number of small cakes.

Because you can't employ a fractional cook, round the number of cooks needed for each type of cake up to the next whole number resulting in 3 + 4 = 7 cooks.

A factorial has the form n! and is the product of the integer (n) and all the positive integers below it. For example, 5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120.

The distributive property for division helps in solving expressions like \({b + c \over a}\). It specifies that the result of dividing a fraction with multiple terms in the numerator and one term in the denominator can be obtained by dividing each term individually and then totaling the results: \({b + c \over a} = {b \over a} + {c \over a}\). For example, \({a^3 + 6a^2 \over a^2} = {a^3 \over a^2} + {6a^2 \over a^2} = a + 6\).