Summary of the Data
Collected
Some students have a hard time making the calculations to arrive at your
totals.
Some students used an online excel
spreadsheet from the Internet to record and present gasoline demand...but
several of the calculations were ridiculous, like 11,000 miles per gallon; cost
0 cents per mile...Many of you have the problem of NOT having number sense. A
few students from a previous term had no problem driving a total 292 miles and
averaging 12,500 miles per gallon????
If you have never programmed a
spreadsheet, maybe you do it the old fashion way with a calculator as described
below:
During the last week, after you fill your tank to finish the
project, you will determine:
Total Miles Driven:
Subtract your initial odometer reading from your
final Odometer Reading
Total gallon Used:
Sum all your Gallons Purchased, except do not
include the gallons recorded in your initial fill-up (Why?)
Total Cost:
Sum all your dollars spent during the project,
except the initial fill-up. (Why?)
Total Days:
Use a calendar and count the number of days from
the first fill-up to the last fill-up.
(For example: September 3 to December 14 is 27 days in Sept; 31 day in October, 30 days in November, and 14 days in December
which totals 102 Days)
MPG = Total Miles Driven
divided by Total Gallons Used
Average Cost Per Mile = Total Dollars Spent divided by Total Mile Driven
Average
daily Miles = Total Miles Driven divided by Total Days of the
Project
Average Daily Gallons Used = Total Gallons Used divided by Total Days of the Project
(You may not be able to answer this. During the project, how many
times did you go on a trip? My daughter lives in Holiday, FL with my two
granddaughters. That is 251 miles each way. One or two trips to Holiday for me
would skew my average daily miles.)
Statistics say that the average U.S. driver averages 29 miles per
day-and this can be skewed if you took a long trip during the project to see if
you are average.
(For me, I live on the Southside and
work at North campus, which is 30.9 miles from door to door. Just to go to work
I drive 62 miles per day going to and from work. I am not the average driver.)
Are you?