Chapter 1, Problem 40GP

To determine

To Estimate: The number of gallons of gasoline consumed by the total of all automobiles drivers.

Answer to Problem 40GP

  $N=1\times {10}^{11}\text{ gal/yr}$

Explanation of Solution

Formula used:

Number of gallons of gasoline consumedcanbe calculated by the fraction of the product of the no. of vehicles run and distance travelled by the vehicle’s average.

Calculation:

Assume that the population is approximately $250\text{ million}$ and there is one automobile for two persons.

Therefore, total number of automobiles is $125\text{ million}$

Let, each automobile travels $15,000\text{ miles}$ and averages $20\text{ miles/gallon}$

Number of gallons of gasoline is:

  $\begin{array}{l}N=\frac{\left(125\times {10}^6\text{ automobiles}\right)\left(15,000\text{ mi/yr}\right)}{\left(20\text{ mi/gal}\right)}\\ N=9.375\times {10}^{10}\text{gal/yr}\\ N=1\times {10}^{10}\text{gal/yr}\end{array}$

Conclusion:

  $N=1\times {10}^{10}\text{gal/yr}$ is the number of gallons of gasoline consumed by the total of all automobiles drivers.