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The formula for calculating the gas cost for a trip is simple. All you need to do is multiply the number of gas gallons needed for the trip and multiply that with the gas price per gallon.
Gas cost = number of gas gallons needed x gas price per gallon
While it’s easy to get gas price per gallon information, the number of gas gallons needed requires some calculation to arrive at.
Number of gas gallons needed = trip distance / miles per gallon (MPG)
Once you know the trip distance (miles you need to cover) and how fuel-efficient your car or vehicle (MPG) is, you know the number of gas gallons needed to make that trip.
Continuing with our aforesaid example, the trip distance is 100 miles, right? And your vehicle is giving an MPG of 22. What this means is your vehicle will run for 22 miles with each gallon of gas. So, if for 22 miles of runway, you need 1 gallon of gas, how many gallons do you need for 100 miles? Yes, exactly, you need to divide 100 miles by 22. That’s 4.55 gallons. That means you need 4.55 gallons of gas to make the trip. Multiplying 4.55 gallons by the gas price per gallon gives us the gas cost. So, gas cost is 4.55 gallons multiplied by $3.88 is $17.65.
Makes sense?
To round up, here’s how the calculations happen:
Trip distance / miles per gallon (MPG) = Number of gas gallons needed
100 miles / 22 = 4.55 gallons
Number of gas gallons needed x gas price per gallon = Gas cost
4.55 gallons x $3.88 = $17.65
So, the gas cost comes to $17.65.