Megan and her twin April are seniors in high school. They worked throughout the summer to have enough money to buy cars, and it cost them every cent they had saved! Now they are trying to figure out how much it will cost them to run through the year. “I have no idea how much I will drive this year,” says Megan. “It’s 5 miles to school, I have soccer practice 3 times a week, which is 2 miles from school, and I probably drive 20 miles on the weekend.”“I’m about the same as you. Don’t forget in the summer we will probably each drive about a hundred miles a week.” Estimate how many miles Megan and April will each drive in the next 12 months.
1. Just give one estimate for them both as they drive about the same number of miles.
“Great. So how much do you think gas will cost us this year?” asks Megan. “Talk for yourself. My car runs on electricity! I only need to pay $0.12 per kilowatt hour, and it takes about 1 kilowatt hour to drive 3 miles,” says April.
2. Estimate April’s electricity cost for the upcoming year.
“Well, that’s confusing,” replies Megan. “They say my car gets 25 mpg highway and 17 mpg city. We don’t really live in a city, do we? Gas is currently $2.85 a gallon.”
3. Estimate Megan’s gas costs for the upcoming year.
To estimate the number of miles Megan and April will each drive in the next 12 months, we can add up the approximate distances they mentioned:
Megan:
- 5 miles to school (one-way)
- Soccer practice 3 times a week, 2 miles from school (one-way)
- 20 miles on the weekend
April:
- Approximately 100 miles per week during the summer
Since they both drive about the same number of miles, we can estimate their yearly mileage by adding Megan's and April's approximate distances together. Let's calculate:
Mileage estimate for Megan and April:
- School days: 5 miles (to school) + 5 miles (back home) = 10 miles
- Soccer practice: 3 times a week * 2 miles (to practice) + 3 times a week * 2 miles (back home) = 12 miles
- Weekend: 20 miles
Megan and April's approximate yearly mileage estimate:
= 10 miles (school days) + 12 miles (soccer practice) + 20 miles (weekend) + 100 miles/week * 52 weeks (during summer)
= 10 + 12 + 20 + 5200
= 5254 miles
Therefore, an estimate for Megan and April's combined yearly mileage is approximately 5254 miles.
Now let's estimate April's electricity cost for the upcoming year. April mentioned that it takes about 1 kilowatt hour (kWh) to drive 3 miles, and she has an electric car that costs $0.12 per kilowatt hour.
To calculate the electricity cost for the year, we need to convert the estimated mileage into kilowatt hours. Let's calculate:
April's estimated yearly electricity cost:
= (5254 miles / 3 miles) * 1 kWh * $0.12 per kWh
= 5254/3 * $0.12
= $70.05
Therefore, an estimate for April's electricity cost for the upcoming year is approximately $70.05.
Now let's estimate Megan's gas costs for the upcoming year. Megan mentioned that her car gets 25 miles per gallon (mpg) on the highway and 17 mpg in the city, and the current gas price is $2.85 per gallon.
To estimate the gas cost for the year, we need to determine the proportion of mileage on highways and cities and then calculate the cost separately. Let's assume Megan's driving is evenly split between highway and city driving (50% each).
Megan's estimated yearly highway mileage:
= 5254 miles * 50%
= 2627 miles
Megan's estimated yearly city mileage:
= 5254 miles * 50%
= 2627 miles
Let's calculate the gas costs separately for highway and city driving:
Gas cost for highway driving:
= 2627 miles / 25 mpg * $2.85 per gallon
= $297.32
Gas cost for city driving:
= 2627 miles / 17 mpg * $2.85 per gallon
= $451.05
Therefore, an estimate for Megan's gas costs for the upcoming year is approximately $297.32 (highway) + $451.05 (city) = $748.37.
To summarize:
1. Estimate for Megan and April's combined yearly mileage: Approximately 5254 miles.
2. Estimate for April's electricity cost for the upcoming year: Approximately $70.05.
3. Estimate for Megan's gas costs for the upcoming year: Approximately $748.37.