Final answer:
The ambulance can travel 143 miles on a half tank of fuel, which is calculated by multiplying 13 gallons by the 11 miles per gallon efficiency, thus enough to cover the 40-mile trip.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question is a practical problem about fuel consumption and distance to be covered. Since the ambulance's gas tank holds 26 gallons of fuel and gets 11 miles per gallon, a full tank would allow the ambulance to travel 286 miles (26 gallons × 11 miles per gallon). If the tank is half full, this leaves the ambulance with 13 gallons of fuel (half of 26 gallons). To find out how many miles the ambulance can travel with a half tank, we multiply the gallons of fuel by the mileage per gallon: 13 gallons × 11 miles per gallon = 143 miles. Therefore, the ambulance should be able to travel 143 miles before running out of fuel, which is more than enough to cover the 40-mile trip to the urgent call.