Question

A barrel of crude oil has a volume of 42 gallons, only approximately 45% of which is processed into gasoline. If your car achieves 36 mi/gal, and you drive 36,000 miles in one year, how many barrels of crude oil are required to run your car for a year?

Answer 1

The number of barrels of crude oil required to run the car for a year is 52.9 barrels of crude oil

Step-by-step explanation:

The information given are as follows;

Percentage of crude oil processed into gasoline = 45%

Distance achieved per gallon by car = 36 mi/gal

Distance driven per year = 36,000 miles

`Gasoline\, usage \, in \, one \, year = (Distance \ driven\ per \ year )/(Distance\ achieved \ per gallon \ by \ car ) = (36000\, miles)/(36\, miles/gallon)`
`(36000\, miles)/(36\, miles/gallon) = 1000 \, gallons`

∴ Gasoline usage in one year = 1,000 gallons

Percentage of crude oil processed into gasoline = 45%

Hence, where 45% of the crude oil produces 1000, the volume of crude, x, from which the gasoline is sourced becomes;

x × 45/100 = 1000 gallons

x =100 × 1000/45 = 20000/9 gallons of crude

1 barrel of crude oil is approximately 42 gallons of crude oil

∴ 20000/9 gallons of crude = 20000/(9×42) barells of crude = 10000/

Which gives;

`52\tfrac{172}{189} \, barrels \, of \, crude \, oil`

Which is 52.9 barrels of crude oil

Hence the number of barrels of crude oil required to run the car for a year = 52.9 barrels of crude oil.