Elizabeth pumps 3 1/2 gallons of gas in 1/4 of a tank. How many gallons does a full tank hold?

Write an expression to represent the problem.

Solve the problem.

3.5 * 4 = x

Thanks

You're welcome.

To solve the problem, we need to determine how many gallons a full tank holds based on the given information.

Let's start by writing an expression to represent the problem:

Let x represent the number of gallons a full tank holds.

We know that Elizabeth pumps 3 1/2 gallons of gas in 1/4 of a tank, so we can set up a proportion to find the relationship between the parts:
3 1/2 gallons / 1/4 of a tank = x gallons / a full tank

To simplify the expression, we need to convert 3 1/2 to an improper fraction:
3 1/2 = 7/2

So our proportion becomes:
(7/2) gallons / (1/4) of a tank = x gallons / a full tank

To find x, we can cross-multiply:
(7/2) gallons * a full tank = (1/4) of a tank * x gallons

Simplifying, we get:
7/2 * a full tank = 1/4 * x gallons

To isolate x, multiply both sides of the equation by 4/1:
7/2 * a full tank * 4/1 = 1/4 * x gallons * 4/1

Simplifying further:
(7/2) * (4/1) * a full tank = x gallons

Multiplying the numerators and denominators:
28/2 * a full tank = x gallons

Simplifying the expression:
14 * a full tank = x gallons

Now we have the expression to represent the problem.

To solve the problem, we need additional information. If we know the capacity of the tank or the proportion of the tank that was filled when the 3 1/2 gallons were pumped, we can substitute that information into the expression to find the value of x, the number of gallons a full tank holds.