A solid yellow stripe is to be painted in the middle of a certain highway. If 1 gallon of paint covers an area of p square feet of highway, how many gallons of paint will be needed to paint a stripe t inches wide on a stretch of highway m miles long

440mt/p gallons

Explanation:

We are told that one gallon of paint covers an area of p square feet. Knowing this then, the question becomes how much paint is needed to cover a stripe that is t inches wide and m miles long.

Let us first use the dimensions of the stripe to find how much area that is in square feet. A stripe is rectangular so we will calculate the area as follows:

Area of stripe = width x length

= t inches x m miles (we need to convert both to feet)

= (t inches x 1 ft/12 inches) x (m miles x 5280 ft/1 mi)

=440mt square feet

ow we can find out how much paint will be needed by using ratios

p square feet : 1 gallon

440mt square feet : x

x = 440mt/p gallons