if a car averages 20 miles per gallon what is the rate in gallons per mile

Question

if a car averages 20 miles per gallon what is the rate in gallons per mile

 

Answer 1

When the 20 miles per gallon is written as a fraction it is 20 miles over 1 gallon.  To flip the units you need to put gallons as the numerator on top of the fraction and miles as the denominator.  Use the same numbers and simply flip the fraction.

 

You will get the new fraction of 1 gallon over 20 miles.  Divide the fraction to get the decimal .05.  This stands for the gallons per mile.

 

ANSWER: .05 gallons per mile

Answer 2

To covert miles per gallon to gallons per mile, you simply invert the numerator and denominator. So, when you invert

 

20 mi/1 gal you get 1 gal/20 miles or .05 gal/mile.