The petrol consumption of a car, in litres per 100 kilometres, is given by the formula $$ ext{Petrol consumption} = rac{100 imes ext{Number of litres of petrol used}}{ ext{Number of kilometres travelled}} $$ Nathan’s car travelled 148 kilometres, correct to 3 significant figures - Edexcel - GCSE Maths - Question 16 - 2017 - Paper 3

Using the formula for petrol consumption, we can calculate it as follows:

ext{Petrol Consumption} = rac{100 imes ext{litres of petrol}}{ ext{kilometres travelled}}

Substituting the minimum and maximum petrol used values:

1. For 11.75 litres:

ext{Petrol Consumption} = rac{100 imes 11.75}{148} \= 7.93 ext{ litres per 100 km}

2. For 11.85 litres:

ext{Petrol Consumption} = rac{100 imes 11.85}{148} \= 8.00 ext{ litres per 100 km}

The calculated range for petrol consumption is:

$7.93 ext{ litres per 100 km} < ext{Petrol Consumption} < 8.00 ext{ litres per 100 km}$

Since Nathan claims that his car used less than 8 litres per 100 kilometres, it is possible. In fact, even using the maximum value of 11.85 litres results in exactly 8 litres per 100 km, which suggests Nathan is not wrong. Thus, Nathan's statement could still be considered accurate.