Question

You need to buy some chicken for dinner tonight. You found an ad showing that the store across town has it on sale for $2.89 a pound, which is cheaper than your usual neighborhood store, which sells it for $3.19 a pound. Is it worth the extra drive?
First, determine what information you need to answer this question, then click here to display that info (along with other info).

How much chicken will you be buying? 5 pounds

How much far are the two stores? My neighborhood store is 2.4 miles away, and takes about 9 minutes. The store across town is 8.4 miles away, and takes about 23 minutes.

How kind of mileage does your car get? It averages about 23 miles per gallon in the city.

How many gallons does your car hold? About 14 gallons

How much is gas? About $3.81/gallon right now.



1. Going to the close store is cheaper

2. Going to the further store is cheaper

Answer 1

Answer:

   1. Going to the close store is cheaper.

Step-by-step explanation:

The difference in the prices of chicken is 3.19 -2.89 = 0.30 per pound, so for 5 pounds of chicken, the far store offers a price that totals 5×$0.30 = $1.50 less.

The difference in travel distances is 8.4 -2.4 = 6 miles, so the total round-trip distance difference is 12 miles. The cost of gas is ...

  ($3.81 /gal)/(23 mi/gal) = $0.1656 /mi

so the cost of gas for the 12-mile longer trip would be

  12×$0.1656 ≈ $1.99

Traveling to the far store, you would spend $1.99 more on gas to save $1.50 on the price of chicken. Going to the close store is cheaper.