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Difficulty: MediumFuel Efficiency and Range

A family rents an RV for a cross-country road trip. The RV has a fuel tank capacity of 5555 gallons and averages 1212 miles per gallon. If the driver begins with a completely full tank and plans to leave exactly 1010 gallons of fuel in the tank as a safety reserve, what is the maximum number of miles the RV can travel before needing to refuel?

Answer: 540 miles

Answer

540
The correct distance is found by first determining the amount of fuel that can actually be used for the trip. Out of the 5555 gallons, 1010 must remain in the tank, leaving 4545 gallons available. At a rate of 1212 miles for every gallon, the RV can travel 4545 multiplied by 1212, which equals 540540 miles.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the usable fuel by subtracting the reserve from the total capacity.
55−10=4555 - 10 = 45 gallons
The driver will not use the bottom 10 gallons of the tank, so this fuel cannot contribute to the travel distance.
2
Calculate the maximum distance using the usable fuel and the fuel efficiency rate.
45×12=54045 \times 12 = 540 miles
Distance equals the amount of fuel used multiplied by the miles per gallon.

Key Concept

Fuel Efficiency and Range calculations involving partial tank usage and safety reserves.

Alternative Method

You could also calculate the total theoretical distance the RV could travel on a full tank (55×12=66055 \times 12 = 660 miles) and subtract the distance that would be covered by the 1010-gallon reserve (10×12=12010 \times 12 = 120 miles). 660−120=540660 - 120 = 540 miles.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Fuel Efficiency and Range

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