In this question, we are asked to calculate the distance traveled per gallon of fuel filled into a tank. Hence, this looks like a rate question.
Firstly, we need to know the distance covered during the duration in which the fuel was in the engine. To do this, we subtract the final odometer reading from the initial odometer reading. This is mathematically equal to: 24,923.4 - 24,583.9 = 339.5 miles.
This means she travelled a total distance of 339.5 miles on the 17.5 gallon fuel.
Hence, the miles per gallon gotten by the van is numerically equal to 339.5/17.5 = 19.4 miles/ gallon
