Question

Xavier recently returned from a road trip he took as part of his summer vacation. On his trip away from home, he made two stops to buy gasoline. He first purchased 7 gallons of gasoline for $2.68 per gallon and later on purchased 14 gallons at a price of $2.63 per gallon. On his return trip, he made only one stop for gasoline, purchasing 16 gallons at $3.11 per gallon. What was the average fuel cost per gallon on Xavier's summer trip? Express your answer rounded to the nearest cent.

Answer 1

`\boxed{\text{\$2.85/gal}}`

Explanation:

\text{Average cost} = \dfrac{\text{Total cost}}{\text{Number of gallons}}

1. Total cost

7 gal × $2.68/gal = $ 18.76

+ 14 gal × $2.63/gal = 36.82

+ 16 gal × $3.11/gal = 49.76

TOTAL = $105.34

2. Total gallons

Total = 7 + 14 + 16 = 37 gal

3. Average cost

`\text{Average cost} = \frac{\text{\$105.34}}{\text{37 gal}} = \textbf{\$2.85/gal}\\\\\text{The average cost for the trip was $\boxed{\textbf{\$2.85/gal}}$}`