Question

TRAVEL The Chan's minivan requires 5 gallons of gasoline to travel 120 miles. How many gallons of gasoline will they need to travel 360 miles (Lesson 2-6)

Short answer

To travel 360 miles, Chan’s minivan will require 15 gallons of gasoline.

Step-by-step solution

Step-1. Understanding the concept of ratio.

Ratio is a form of mathematical expression for the comparison of two quantities of the same kind. It is a relation that indicates how many times one quantity is equal to the other.

Alternatively we can say that Ratio is a number, which expresses one quantity as a fraction of the other.

For example, Ratio of $3$to $4$is$3:4$ or $\frac{3}{4}$.

Step-2. Form equations.

The minivan requires 5 gallons of gasoline to travel 120 miles. to travel 360 miles we will need suppose x gallons of gasoline then we have the ratios as:

$\frac{120}{5}=\frac{360}{x}$

Step-3. Find the unknown quantity.

We cross multiply to simplify as follows:

$\begin{array}{l}\frac{120}{5}=\frac{360}{x}\\ 120x=360\times 5\\ \frac{120x}{120}=\frac{360\times 5}{120}\\ x=\frac{360\times 5}{120}\\ x=15\end{array}$

Hence, to travel 360 miles, Chan’s minivan will require 15 gallons of gasoline.