To find out how much gas is in the tank, we can multiply the total capacity of the gas tank by the fraction that indicates how full it is.
The gas tank holds 12 gallons and it is \(\frac{5}{8}\) full. So we calculate:
\[ \text{Amount of gas} = 12 \times \frac{5}{8} \]
First, we can multiply 12 by 5:
\[ 12 \times 5 = 60 \]
Now, we divide 60 by 8:
\[ \frac{60}{8} = 7.5 \]
Next, we convert 7.5 to a mixed number:
\[ 7.5 = 7 \frac{1}{2} \]
Thus, the amount of gas in the tank is:
\[ \boxed{7 \frac{1}{2}} \text{ gallons} \]
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