Question

If gasoline costs $47.86 for 12.5 gallons of gasoline, how much does it cost for 8 gallons?

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​Round your answer to the nearest cent.

Answer 1

8 gallons of gasoline costs $30.63.

Explanation:

Set up a proportion to solve for x, or the cost of 8 gallons of gasoline. The $47.86 goes on top of the first ratio, and 12.5 goes on top of the second. This is because the $47.86 is the cost of the 12.5 gallons of gasoline. Next, put x on the bottom of the first ratio and 8 on the bottom of the second ratio. This is because the amount of money you are trying to find, x, is the cost of the 8 gallons of gasoline. The proportion should look like this:
`(47.86)/(x) = (12.5)/(8)`

To solve the proportion, use cross multiplication. To do that, multiply 8 by 47.86 to get 382.88. Then, divide 382.88 by 12.5. The answer is 30.6304‬, so round to the nearest cent to get a total of $30.63.

I hope this helps! ☺