Answer
Distance from New York to Chicago in miles, average miles per gallon of gasoline of the car, and the average cost per gallon of gasoline.
Work Step by Step
To estimate the money needed to drive from New York to Chicago, dimensional analysis is used.
First, the distance from New York to Chicago in miles is needed:
For example, 790 miles.
Then, the average miles per gallon of gasoline of the car is needed:
For example, 39.5 miles per gallon.
Lastly, the average cost per gallon of gasoline is needed:
For example, 3.00 dollars per gallon.
Using dimensional analysis, we multiply the data such that the units cancel leaving us with our money unit (dollars).
$\frac{(790)mi}{1}\times\frac{(1)gallon}{(39.5)mi}\times\frac{(3.00)dollars}{(1)gallon} = $ 60 dollars
