AAPL wrote:Manhattan Prep
A certain car traveled twice as many miles from Town A to Town B as it did from Town B to Town C. From Town A to Town B, the car averaged 12 miles per gallon, and from Town B to Town C, the car averaged 18 miles per gallon. What is the average miles per gallon that the car achieved on its trip from Town A through Town B to Town C?
A. 13
B. 13.5
C. 14
D. 14.5
E. 15
OA B
We are given that a certain car traveled twice as many miles from Town A to Town B as it did from Town B to Town C. Thus, if the car traveled d miles from Town B to Town C, it traveled 2d miles from Town A to Town B.
We are also given that from Town A to Town B, the car averaged 12 miles per gallon, and from Town B to Town C, the car averaged 18 miles per gallon.
Thus, the number of gallons used from Town A to Town B is 2d/12 = d/6 and the number of gallons used from Town B to Town C is d/18.
Let’s now determine the overall average miles per gallon, using the following formula:
average = (total distance)/(total gallons)
average = (2d + d)/(d/6 + d/18)
average = 3d/(4d/18) = (3d x 18)/4d = 54/4 = 13.5 mpg
Answer: B
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