Question

Sheleah and her family are planning a trip from Los Angeles, California to Melbourne, Australia. While booking her family's plane tickets, she notices on the itinerary that the airline is offering a sixteen hour straight flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne on a Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental Jet. In an effort to learn more about the capabilities of the Jet, Sheleah does a little research and stumbles upon the following graph and facts about the Jet's fuel consumption.



The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental Jet can carry approximately 63,500 gallons of jet fuel, making it possible for the jet to travel 14,430 kilometers before needing to refuel.
Using the graph, approximate the Jet's average fuel consumption, in gallons per hour, during the sixteen hour flight from Los Angeles, California to Melbourne, Australia. In your final answer, include all of your calculations.



WRITER

Answer 1

I don't have the graph you referenced — could you upload it or describe the data points? That will let me use the actual distance (or speed) from the graph. Meanwhile, here is the correct method and two example calculations (one using the LAX→Melbourne great‑circle distance and one using a typical cruise speed) so you can see how to get the gallons-per-hour value.

Step 1 — fuel per km
Fuel capacity ÷ maximum range = gallons per kilometer
63,500 gallons ÷ 14,430 km = 4.40055 gallons/km (rounded)

Method A — using an approximate LAX→Melbourne distance
- Typical great-circle distance LAX → Melbourne ≈ 12,800 km (you can replace this with the exact distance from your graph).
- Total fuel used ≈ 4.40055 gal/km × 12,800 km = 56,167 gallons
- Average fuel consumption per hour = 56,167 gal ÷ 16 h = 3,510.4 gal/hour

Method B — using a typical 747‑8 cruise speed
- Typical cruise speed ≈ 917 km/h → distance in 16 h = 917 × 16 = 14,672 km
- Gallons per hour = 4.40055 gal/km × 917 km/h = 4,035.3 gal/hour
(That would imply ~64,564 gallons over 16 h, slightly more than the 63,500 gallon capacity — showing that a 16‑hour flight at that speed would be at or beyond the plane’s quoted maximum range.)

Summary (with the assumptions above)
- If the flight distance is ≈12,800 km: average ≈ 3,510 gal/hour.
- If the plane cruises at ≈917 km/h: average ≈ 4,035 gal/hour.

If you upload the graph or give the exact distance/time from it, I will compute the fuel‑per‑hour value using that exact data and show the full calculation.