Q73E - Chemistry (OpenStax)

Question

Gasoline is sold by the liter in many countries. How many liters are required to fill a 12.0-gal gas tank?

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

The gasoline required to fill the tank in liters is 45.4 L.

Step 1: Defining the conversion factor from gal to liters

Gallon – 

It is used to measure the volume of gasoline equal to 3.785 liters. There are four quarts in a gallon. In the oil industry, the gallon is the most used unit.

\(1\,\,{\rm{gallon}}\,\, = \,\,3.785\,\,{\rm{liters}}\)

Liters –

 It is also a unit of volume. It is considered one liter equal to 1000 dm³. The liter is a widely used unit to measure the liquid.

\(1\,\,{\rm{liter}}\,\, = \,\,0.264172\,\,{\rm{liters}}\)

Step 2: Converting the gal to liters using the conversion factor

It is given that the volume of the tank is 12.0 gal.

We have

\(1\,\,{\rm{gallon}}\,\, = \,\,3.785\,\,{\rm{liters}}\)

Using the conversion factor, we get

\(12\,\,{\rm{gallon}}\,\, = \,\,\,\left( {12\,{\rm{gallon}} \times \,\frac{{3.785\,\,{\rm{liters}}}}{{{\rm{gallon}}}}} \right)\,\, = \,\,45.42\,\,{\rm{liters}}\,\)

Therefore, the gasoline required to fill the tank in the liters is ~ 45.4L.