Question

On Monday morning, Colin filled his car with six and one-half gallons of gas, then used three and one-fourth gallons driving. On Tuesday, he used up 2 gallons driving. On Tuesday night, his gas tank had four and one-fourth gallons remaining. How much gas was in Colin's tank before he filled up on Monday morning?

3 gal

three and one-fourth gal

three and one-half gal

three and three-fourths gal

Answer 1

x + 6 1/2 - 3 1/4 - 2 = 4 1/4 (change everything to improper fractions)
x + 13/2 - 13/4 - 2/1 = 17/4 (multiply everything by LCD, which is 4)
4x + 26 - 13 - 8 = 17 -- combine like terms
4x + 5 = 17 --- subtract 5
4x = 17 - 5
4x = 12 -- divide by 4
x = 3 gallons