Find the total cost of renting and driving the rental car.

Question

The ramos family is going on vacation. The vacation will include driving approximately 1700 miles. They are going to rent a car and must return the car with a full tank of gasoline. The rental car will cost the Ramos family $787.26 including all taxes and fees. The car they plan to rent gets 38 miles per gallon and the average cost of gas is $2.10 per gallon.

Answer 1

Hi! To find the total cost, we have to take two things into consideration: the cost of the rental and the cost of gas:

Total cost = rental cost + gas cost

Now, the rental cost is easy! They tell us exactly what it is:

Total cost = $787.26 + gas cost

Finding the total cost for gas takes a little more work. We know they are travelling 1700 miles, the car can travel 38 miles per gallon, and gas costs $2.10 per gallon. So how do we figure out how many gallons they will be using? Easy! Just divide the total miles by the miles per gallon the car gets:

1700 miles / 38 miles per gallon = 44.74 gallons (I rounded to two decimal places for this)

Now to find the cost for their gas, we multiple the gallons by the price per gallon:

44.74 * $2.10 = $93.95

Now we can add this to our "total cost" equation we have been working on:

Total Cost = $787.26 + $93.95

Add these two items up and you will get your total cost :)