Question

During the first week of winter, a business used 1/6 of a tank of heating oil. It used two times as much oil in the second week as it did in the first week. It used another 1/8 of a tank during the third week. A delivery of ½ tank was made at the end of the third week. The final fuel gauge shows a line between ½ and F. How much fuel did the business start with?

Answer 1

The business started with 23/24 of their tank full

Explanation:

Step 1.

Find the LCM of the denominators (2,6 and 8)

=24

Step 2.

Change all the fractions to have a denominator of 24

1/6=4/24

1/8=3/24

1/2=12/24

3/4= 18/24

Step 3.

Work backwards

18/24-12/24

=6/24+3/24

=9/24+(2×4/24)

=17/24+6/24

=23/24