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Question

Part 1
You are running a fuel economy study. One of the cars you find is blue. It can travel 31 and one half miles
on 1 and one fourth gallons
of gasoline. Another car is red. It can travel 22 and two fifths miles
on four fifths gallon
of gasoline. What is the unit rate for miles per gallon for each​ car? Which car could travel the greater distance on 1 gallon of​ gasoline?

Answer 1

To find the unit rate for miles per gallon for each car, we need to calculate the miles per gallon for each car's given distance and amount of gasoline.

Blue Car:

• Distance: 31.5 miles
• Gasoline: 1.25 gallons

Miles per Gallon for the Blue Car: \[ \text{Miles per gallon} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Gasoline}} = \frac{31.5 \text{ miles}}{1.25 \text{ gallons}} \]

Calculating: \[ \frac{31.5}{1.25} = 31.5 \div 1.25 = 25.2 \text{ miles per gallon} \]

Red Car:

• Distance: 22.4 miles
• Gasoline: 0.8 gallons

Miles per Gallon for the Red Car: \[ \text{Miles per gallon} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Gasoline}} = \frac{22.4 \text{ miles}}{0.8 \text{ gallons}} \]

Calculating: \[ \frac{22.4}{0.8} = 28 \text{ miles per gallon} \]

Summary:

• Blue Car: 25.2 miles per gallon
• Red Car: 28 miles per gallon

Which car could travel the greater distance on 1 gallon of gasoline?

The red car can travel farther per gallon of gasoline since it achieves 28 miles per gallon compared to the blue car's 25.2 miles per gallon.

Thus, the red car could travel a greater distance on 1 gallon of gasoline.