Questions: You are planning a wedding. You have invited 80 people and have received RSVPs for 72 people. In preparation, you anticipate that each person will drink around 2.5 cups of punch. How many gallons do you need to purchase to make sure that no one goes thirsty? Round your answer up to the next highest gallon. gallons

Solution Steps

To determine the number of gallons of punch needed, follow these steps:

1. Calculate the total number of cups of punch required by multiplying the number of RSVPs by the average number of cups per person.
2. Convert the total number of cups to gallons (since there are 16 cups in a gallon).
3. Round up to the next highest gallon to ensure there is enough punch.

The number of RSVPs is 72, and each person is expected to drink 2.5 cups of punch. Therefore, the total number of cups needed is: \[ \text{total\_cups} = 72 \times 2.5 = 180 \text{ cups} \]

There are 16 cups in a gallon. To find the number of gallons needed, divide the total number of cups by the number of cups per gallon: \[ \text{total\_gallons} = \frac{180}{16} = 11.25 \text{ gallons} \]

To ensure no one goes thirsty, round up to the next highest gallon: \[ \text{total\_gallons} = \lceil 11.25 \rceil = 12 \text{ gallons} \]

Final Answer