Question

Kate is going on a long distance car trip. She begins with 16 gallons of gas in her car and her car burns 3 gallons of gas each hour. If she ends her road trip with 1 gallon of gas left in the tank, how many hours was she driving

Answer 1

Answer:

She was driving for 5 hours

Step-by-step explanation:

Let us solve the question

∵ Kate begins with 16 gallons of gas in her car

∵ Her car burns 3 gallons of gas each hour

→ That means the rate of burn of the gas is 3 gallons per hour

∵ She ends her road trip with 1 gallon of gas left in the tank

→ That means she used the difference between 16 and 1 gallons

∴ The number of gallons she used = 16 - 1 = 15 gallons

→ By using the ratio method

→ Gallon  :  hour

→  3          :  1

→  15        :  x

→ By using cross multiplication

∵ 3 × x = 15 × 1

∴ 3x = 15

→ Divide both sides by 3

∴ x = 5

∵ x represents the number of hours of her trip

∴ She was driving for 5 hours