The pilot of a small aircraft with a 40-gallon fuel tank

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BTGmoderatorLU: Moderator; Posts: 2544; Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:50 pmFollowed by: 6 members

by BTGmoderatorLU » Fri May 25, 2018 5:07 pm

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The pilot of a small aircraft with a 40-gallon fuel tank wants to fly to Cleveland, which is 480 miles away. The pilot recognizes that the current engine, which can fly only 8 miles per gallon, will not get him there. By how many miles per gallon must the aircraft's fuel efficiency be improved to make the flight to Cleveland possible?

A. 2
B. 4
C. 12
D. 40
E. 160

The OA is B.

Please, can anyone assist me with this PS question? I don't know how can I solve it. Thanks in advance.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Fri May 25, 2018 5:07 pm

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by [email protected] » Sat May 26, 2018 10:56 am

Hi All,

We're told that the pilot of a small aircraft with a 40-gallon fuel tank wants to fly to Cleveland, which is 480 miles away - but the plane can only fly 8 miles per gallon, which will not get him there. We're asked by how many miles per GALLON must the aircraft's fuel efficiency be IMPROVED to make the flight to Cleveland possible. This question comes down to defining the 'rates' involved and doing a little arithmetic.

To start, to travel 480 miles on 40 gallons of fuel, the aircraft needs to travel 480/40 = 12 miles per gallon. Since the plane currently flies just 8 miles per gallon, the fuel efficiency must increase by 12 - 8 = 4 miles per gallon.

Final Answer: B

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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Jeff@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1462; Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:34 amFollowed by: 22 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 39 times

by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Wed May 30, 2018 4:22 pm

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:The pilot of a small aircraft with a 40-gallon fuel tank wants to fly to Cleveland, which is 480 miles away. The pilot recognizes that the current engine, which can fly only 8 miles per gallon, will not get him there. By how many miles per gallon must the aircraft's fuel efficiency be improved to make the flight to Cleveland possible?

A. 2
B. 4
C. 12
D. 40
E. 160

In order to fly to Cleveland (which is 480 miles away) with 40-gallon fuel tank, the fuel efficiency must be 480/40 = 12 miles per gallon. Since the current fuel efficiency is 8 miles per gallon, it must improve by 4 miles per gallon to make the trip to Cleveland possible..

Answer: B

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

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