Michael is driving on a long road trip. He wrote an equation to represent how many gallons of gas he has left in his tank, \( g=8-0.5 h \), where \( g \) represents the number of gallons and \( h \) represents time in hours. What could the number 8 represent in the equation?

In the equation \( g=8-0.5 h \), the number 8 represents the total amount of gas in gallons that Michael started with in his tank before he began his road trip. It’s like the “gas tank full” status, giving him a solid starting point for his calculations! Additionally, when considering the equation in a real-world application, Michael can easily calculate how long he can drive before needing to refuel. For instance, if he knows that he consumes 0.5 gallons per hour, he can determine how long the 8 gallons will last by setting \( g \) to 0 and solving for \( h \). This could help him plan his stops along the way!