Answer:
5/178 gal/mi
35.6 mi/gal . . . . . take your pick
Explanation:
As you have written the question, it is
(1.25 gal)/(44.5 mi) = (5/178) gal/mi ≈ 0.0280899 gal/mi
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Usually, mileage is expressed in miles per gallon in the US. The unit rate in those units is ...
178/5 mi/gal = 35.6 mi/gal
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Comment on mileage unit rates
A "unit rate" is any rate that has 1 unit in the denominator. That is, the rate 5 gal/(178 mi) is not a unit rate, but (5/178) gal/mi is a units rate. They both use the same fraction, but the latter has 1 unit in the denominator and the fraction in the numerator: (5/178 gal)/mi.
Outside the US, mileage (energy use for transportation) is often expressed in terms of (amount of fuel)/(given distance). For example, the above mileage might be expressed as 1.745 gal/(100 km), or 6.607 L/(100 km). The "unit" in this scenario is 100 km.
In the US, the typical mileage specification is (distance)/(gallons). So, your question in terms of gallons per mile could mean that is the unit rate you're looking for (.028 gal/mi). Or it could mean we need to convert it to the typical US mileage specification. We cannot tell.