Answer:
<em>THE NUMERATOR OF THE RATIONAL EXPRESSION REPRESENTS THE </em><u><em>TOTAL COST OF GASOLINE PURCHASED.</em></u>
<em>THE DENOMINATOR OF THE RATIONAL EXPRESSION REPRESENTS THE </em><u><em>TOTAL GALLONS OF GASOLINE PURCHASED</em></u>
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The complete problem is:
<em>Annabella spends $2.25 per gallon on gas at the gas station. After driving a certain distance, she stops at a second gas station and spends $2.15 per gallon on gasoline.</em>
<em>Annabella can express her average cost per gallon of gasoline as </em>
<em>What is the meaning of the parts of this rational expression in the context of the situation?</em>
<em>THE NUMERATOR OF THE RATIONAL EXPRESSION REPRESENTS THE __________.</em>
<em>(select one)</em>
<em>1. total cost of the gasoline purchased</em>
<em>2. total number of gallons of gasoline purchased</em>
<em>3. cost per gallon of gasoline</em>
<em />
<em>THE DENOMINATOR OF THE RATIONAL EXPRESSION REPRESENTS THE ________.</em>
<em>1. total cost of the gasoline purchased</em>
<em>2. total number of gallons of gasoline purchased</em>
<em>3. cost per gallon of gasoline</em>
<em />
<em />
So, in this context and based on the given data, <em>the numerator of the expression is referring to the total cost of gasoline purchased</em>, and <em>the denominator is expressing the total gallons of gasoline purchased.</em>
You can deduct this because, the numerator contains the amounts of costs per gallon, being <em>x </em>gallons. On the other hand, you can see in the denominator that there's no costs multiplying the variable, it's just a quantity which refers to the amount of gasoline, not the cost.