You are running a fuel economy study. One of the cars you find is blue. It can travel 31 1/2 miles on 1 1/4 gallons of gasoline. Another car is red. It can travel 25 3/5 miles on a 4/5 gallon of gasoline. What is the unit rate for miles per gallon for each car? Which car could travel the greater distance on 1 gallon of gasoline? The unit rate for the blue car is a mile(s) per gallon
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Milles per gallon
Blue 31 1/2miles on 1 1/4 gallons of gasoline
31 1/2 ÷ 1 1/4 = (31*2 +1)/2 ÷ (1*4 +1)/ 4 = 63/2 ÷ 5/4 = 63/2 * 4/5 = 63*4/ (2*5) = 126/ 5
= 25.2 milles / gallon
The unit rate for the blue car is a mile(s) per gallon = 25.2
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Red 25 3/2 miles on a gallon of gasoline
25 3/5 ÷ 4/5 = (25*5 +3) /5 x 5/4 = 128 *5/(5*4)= 128/4
= 32 milles / gallon
The unit rate for the red car is a mile(s) per gallon = 32
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Which car could travel the greater distance on 1 gallon of gasoline?
The greatest distance on 1 gallon of gasoline is 32 miles / gallon