Question

The fuel gauge in Nic’s car says that he has 26 miles to go until his tank is empty. He passed a fuel station 19 miles ago, and a sign says there is a town only 8 miles ahead. If he takes a chance and drives ahead to the town and there isn’t a fuel station there, does he have enough fuel to go back to the last station? Include a diagram along a number line, and use absolute value to find your answer

Answer 1

Answer: If he goes to the town and there is not a fuel station, he can not go back to the previous fuel station.

Explanation:

Nic can only drive for another 26 miles.

If he goes to the town, that is 8 miles away, he will have a total of:

26 - 8 = 18 miles left.

Now, the fuel station was 19 miles away from the initial position, but he is now in the town, other 8 miles away, so he is at 19 + 8 = 27 miles away from the fuel station, and he only has 18 miles left, so he can not go back to the fuel station.

Answer 2

No Nick does not have enough fuel to go to the next town (8 miles away), drive back to the gas station he passed (27 miles, 8 + 19). That is 35 miles total driving and his gauge says he has enough gas to drive 26 miles. 8 miles 8 miles 19 miles = 35 miles