Final answer:
The unit rate of gasoline used on Mike's trip is calculated by dividing the total miles driven by the gallons of gasoline used, resulting in 32 miles per gallon (mpg), which is option (A).
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the unit rate of gasoline used on this trip, we need to find out how many miles Mike drove per gallon of gasoline. To do this, we will divide the total number of miles driven by the total number of gallons used.
Mike drove 256 miles and used 8 gallons of gasoline. Using division for these two numbers: 256 miles ÷ 8 gallons = 32 miles per gallon (mpg).
Therefore, the unit rate of gasoline used for this trip is 32 miles per gallon (mpg), which corresponds to option (A).