A natural disaster cut a town off from its water supply. People must consume two quarts of clean water per day to survive. If an agency is going to deliver a three-day supply of clean water for each person and there are 32,684 people in the town, how many gallons of water must the agency transport there?
Explanation
Answer: A - Two quarts are equal to one half-gallon; each of the 32,684 people should receive one and one half-gallons of clean water, which is 49,026 gallons of water total. The problem can also be solved by ignoring the unit of volume until the end. If each person requires two units of water per day for three days, each person should receive six units of water. Six units for each of 32,684 people equals 196,104 units. Divide the amount by four, since a quart (the original unit) is one fourth of a gallon. The agency must transport 196,104 quarts which is 49,026 gallons.
