You have steamed 156 miles and consumed 19 tons of fuel. If you maintain the same speed, how many tons of fuel will you consume while steaming 273 miles?
• Fuel consumption is proportional to distance when speed and engine settings stay the same • Set up a ratio (proportion) using miles and tons of fuel • Be careful with multiplication vs division when scaling up from one distance to a longer distance
• What is the fuel consumed per mile at the original distance? How can you use that to find the fuel for 273 miles? • Is 273 miles greater or less than 156 miles, and should the fuel used increase or decrease in the same proportion? • Once you find the fuel for 273 miles, which answer choice is closest to your calculated value after proper rounding?
• Compute fuel per mile first (tons divided by miles), not miles per ton • When scaling from 156 miles to 273 miles, make sure you multiply by the correct factor (don’t invert the ratio) • After calculating, check if your answer is reasonable: more miles than 156 should mean more than 19 tons of fuel, but not a wildly different amount
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