Question

4. A tank containing 35 gallons of water is leaking at a rate of gallon per minute. Write an expression to determine the number of gallons left in the tank after m minutes.

Answer 1

The expression 35 - m is used to determine the number of gallons left in the tank after m minutes.

Solution:

Given that a tank containing 35 gallons of water is leaking at a rate of gallon per minute.

Let "m" represent the number of minutes spent

Number of gallons left in the tank = initial amount of water present – leaked amount of water

Number of gallons of water left = 35 gallons – number of minutes spent $\times$ rate of leakage.

Number of gallons of water left = 35 gallons – m minutes $\times$ 1 gallons per minute

$= 35 - m \times 1 = 35 - m$

Hence, the required expression is 35 – m