Question

A Toyota Prius is able to drive 565 miles on 11.9 gallons of gasoline (highway driving). A Honda Accord can drive 619 miles on 17.2 gallons of gasoline (highway driving).

a. Which car gets better gas mileage?

b. Calculate the difference in costs if you drive a distance of 300 miles with each car, if gasoline is $3.19 per gallon?

Answer 1

(a) The Prius gets (565 mi)/(11.9 gal) = 47.479 mi/gal
The Accord gets (619 mi)/(17.2 gal) = 35.988 mi/gal
The Prius gets better gas mileage.

(b) The difference in gallons per mile is
1/35.988 -1/47.479 ≈ 0.00672481 gal/mi
Then the difference in cost is
(0.00672481 gal/mi)*(300 mi)*($3.19/gal) ≈ $6.44
The difference in gas cost for 300 miles is $6.44.