Question

Ian​'s car can go 259 miles on 7 gallons of gas. During a drive last​ weekend, Ian used 5 gallons of gas. How far did he ​drive? Use pencil and paper. Explain how the problem changes if you were given the distance Ian drove last weekend instead of how much gas he used.

Answer 1

Ian's car gets 37 miles per gallon, and by using 5 gallons of gas, he would have driven 185 miles. If the distance Ian drove was given instead of the gas used, we would divide the distance by the miles per gallon to obtain the gallons needed.

Step-by-step explanation:

Ian’s car can go 259 miles on 7 gallons of gas. To find out how far he drove with 5 gallons, you need to calculate the miles per gallon (mpg) first, then multiply the mpg by the amount of gas used.

MPG = Total miles driven ÷ Total gallons of gas used
MPG = 259 miles ÷ 7 gallons
MPG = 37 miles per gallon

Distance driven = MPG × Gallons of gas used
Distance driven = 37 mpg × 5 gallons
Distance driven = 185 miles

If you were given the distance Ian drove instead of the amount of gas he used, you would divide the distance by the mpg to find out how many gallons of gas were needed for the trip.