Hey guys, not really sure how to approach this problem and would appreciate some
ID: 2056536 • Letter: H
Question
Hey guys, not really sure how to approach this problem and would appreciate some help or some guidance in the right direction. thanks in advance!
You and a friend are planning a cross-country trip from LA to New York. After a quick online search, you find that you can get plane tickets for about $350 per person. Your friend wonders whether it might be cheaper to drive; you decide to make an estimate to find out.
a) In the U. S., the fuel efficiency of a car is typically measured in miles per gallon. What are the dimensions of this quantity? Estimate the fuel efficiency of the car the two of you will be taking on the trip. (This can be a car you actually have, or one that you are imagining, but be sure to explain what kind of car it is and how you came up with your estimate.)
b) Using this fuel efficiency, estimate how much you would spend on gas to make the trip.
c) What would be a reasonable average speed for you to travel while driving? (Be sure to explain how you came up with this value.) How long would the trip take at this average speed?
d) Have any other costs (for flying or driving) not been taken into account so far? Based on your estimates for any such other costs, do you think flying or driving is cheaper?
Explanation / Answer
(a) The cost of travel by flight = 350 + 350 = $ 700 let your car be a 2008 Honda Civic Let's take interstate 80 to reach New york. Distance on interstate 80( as shown in google maps) from LA to newyork = 2790 miles. Honda Civic has a fuel efficiency of 40 miles per gallon in city and 42 miles per gallon on freeway. since most of the journey will be done on a freeway we will take fuel efficiency as 42 miles per gallon. it's dimensions are in SI units are meter/liter. (b) Distance of travel = 2790 miles fuel efficiency = 42 miles per gallon Total gas needed = Distance/fuel efficiency = 2790/42 = 66.42 gallons Cost of gallon = $ 3.79 Cost of gasoline = 66.42 * 3.79 = $ 251.73 (c) We need to detailed analysis of the route travelled and speed limit on different stretches of the road. Using them we need to find the total time taken. from google maps we get total time taken as 1 day and 21 hours = 45 hours using them average speed can be calculated. Average speed = Total distance travelled/total time taken = 2790/45 = 62 miles/hr. (d) The other costs that need to accounted for are: (1) cost of tolls paid (2) Cost of food Since the total journey is 45 hours, we need to eat for at least 7 meals each Let cost of 1 meal be $ 15 total cost of food = 7 * 2 *15 = $ 210 Let's assume that total cost of tolls paid be $ 50 so total cost = gas of fuel + toll cost + food cost = 251.3 + 210 + 50 = $ 551.3 it's less than the cost of air travel. so it's cheaper to drive than fly.