Real-Life Math
You're running the hangar gas trucks this evening, getting
a few planes ready for flights tomorrow morning. It may sound like a simple
task, but it's important. If a car runs out of gas, you just pull over
to the side of the road -- it's serious business if a plane runs out
of fuel while in the air.
You've got to calculate
how much a loaded plane will weigh in order to gauge how much fuel to put
in the tanks. You also have to figure out how heavy the fuel is that you are
putting in. If you're only filling the tanks for a short trip, the plane
will be burning more energy by having to haul a large amount of gas.
Here
are the problems you have to solve today:
Part A
The
first aircraft you fill up has 2 tanks that hold 60 gallons of fuel each.
You want to figure out how many pounds of fuel the aircraft will carry. (Fuel
weight = 6 pounds to the gallon).
Part B
Now you're
on to your next task. You look at the flight sheet, and see that the next
plane is scheduled to fly 1,700 miles. You know the plane burns 65 gallons
of gas flying 720 miles. How much gas will it need for the longer trip?
Part
C
You hop into the cockpit of the next plane and see that the
fuel tank gauge indicates 3/8 of the fuel has been used. How many gallons
are left if the tank capacity is 32 gallons?
Well, that's it --
a simple day running the fuel truck. Hopefully you've calculated the
fuel correctly and the pilots and passengers will have a safe trip. Maybe
you should double-check your figures to be on the safe side!