<PRE><B>Question 375952</B>
A family has two cars. The first car has a fuel efficiency of 40 miles per gallon of gas and the second has a fuel efficiency of 30 miles per gallon of gas. During one particular week, the two cars went a combined total of 1650 miles, for a total gas consumption of 45 gallons. How many gallons were consumed by each of the two cars that week?
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Equation:
1st car DATA:
rate = 40 mi/gal ; # of gallons = x gal ; distance = 40x miles
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2nd car DATA:
30 mi/gal ; # of gallons = 45-x gal ; distance = 30(45-x) miles
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Equation:
40x + 30*45-30x = 1650
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10x = -1350+1650
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x = 30 gallons (gas consumed by 1st car)
45-x = 15 gallons (gas consumed by 2nd car)
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Cheers,
Stan H.
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