A lawn mower manufacturer claims that one of its new gas-powered lawn mowers will run for 2 hours and 40 minutes on 1 quart of gasoline. If the claim is true, how long should this lawn mower run on 3 1/2 quarts of gasoline? [40 minutes is 2/3 of an hour.]

Question

Group of answer choices

8 1/2 hours [or 8 hours and 30 minutes]

12 2/3 hours [or 12 hours and 40 minutes]

8 1/3 hours [or 8 hours and 20 minutes]

9 1/3 hours [or 9 hours and 20 minutes]

Answer 1

To find how long the lawn mower should run on 3 1/2 quarts of gasoline, we can use ratios.

If the mower runs for 2 hours and 40 minutes on 1 quart of gasoline, then we can set up a ratio of time to gasoline:

(2 hours + 40 minutes) : 1 quart = x hours : 3 1/2 quart

Converting 40 minutes to hours, we have:

(2+(40/60)) hours : 1 quart = x hours : 3 1/2 quart

Simplifying, we get:

(2+(2/3)) hours : 1 quart = x hours : 7/2 quart

Now, we can cross multiply:

(8/3) hours * (7/2) quart = x hours * 1 quart

Multiplying, we get:

(56/6) hours * quart = x hours * quart

Dividing both sides by quart, we get:

56/6 hours = x hours

Simplifying, we get:

x ≈ 9 1/3 hours

Therefore, the lawn mower should run for approximately 9 1/3 hours on 3 1/2 quarts of gasoline.

Answer: 9 1/3 hours [or 9 hours and 20 minutes]