You can drive your car 21.7 miles with one gallon of gasoline. At that rate, how many miles can you drive with 13.2 gallons of gasoline?

1 Answer
SCooke
Apr 9, 2017

286.4 miles

Explanation:

This is a useful practical application of algebra! It is a ratio – something that can be used for comparisons or conversions. We set it up as a dimensional fraction to see how it works.

We have ((21.7 "miles")/(1 gallon)) as the ratio. We have a similar ratio with an unknown part:

(("? miles")/(13.2 gallons)) Putting them together algebraically we can find the desired value and units.

((21.7 "miles")/(1 gallon)) = (("? miles")/(13.2 gallons))

("? miles") = (13.2 gallons) * ((21.7 "miles")/(1 gallon)) = 286.4 miles

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