Questions: If your car gets 35 miles per gallon, how much does it cost to drive 430 miles when gasoline costs 3.40 per gallon? The cost is . (Simplify your answer. Round to the nearest cent as needed.)

Solution Steps

To solve this problem, we need to determine the total cost of driving 430 miles given the car's fuel efficiency and the cost of gasoline. Here's the step-by-step approach:

1. Calculate the number of gallons of gasoline needed to drive 430 miles.
2. Multiply the number of gallons by the cost per gallon to get the total cost.

To determine the number of gallons of gasoline required to drive 430 miles, we use the formula: \[ \text{gallons\_needed} = \frac{\text{total\_miles}}{\text{miles\_per\_gallon}} \] Given: \[ \text{total\_miles} = 430 \quad \text{miles} \] \[ \text{miles\_per\_gallon} = 35 \quad \text{miles per gallon} \] Substituting the values: \[ \text{gallons\_needed} = \frac{430}{35} \approx 12.2857 \quad \text{gallons} \]

To find the total cost of the gasoline, we multiply the number of gallons needed by the cost per gallon: \[ \text{total\_cost} = \text{gallons\_needed} \times \text{cost\_per\_gallon} \] Given: \[ \text{cost\_per\_gallon} = 3.40 \quad \text{dollars per gallon} \] Substituting the values: \[ \text{total\_cost} = 12.2857 \times 3.40 \approx 41.77 \quad \text{dollars} \]

Final Answer