Final answer:
The original price of gasoline 30 years ago was approximately $0.29426 per litre, calculated by dividing the current price of $1.589 by the total percentage increase over the 30 years.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question revolves around the calculation of the original price of gasoline 30 years ago based on a 440% price increase. Considering that the current price is $1.589 per litre, we can reverse-engineer the original price. To do this, we use the formula for percentage increase: Final Price = Original Price * (1 + Percentage Increase). Here, the final price is $1.589 and the percentage increase is 440%, or 4.4 in decimal form.
To find the Original Price, we rearrange the formula to get Original Price = Final Price / (1 + Percentage Increase). Substituting the given values gives us Original Price = $1.589 / (1 + 4.4), which simplifies to Original Price = $1.589 / 5.4. Calculating this gives us approximately $0.29426. Therefore, the price per litre of gasoline 30 years ago was roughly $0.29426.