Question

bryan estimates the cost of a vacation to be $730. the actual cost of the vacation is $850. find the percent error. round to the nearest whole percent if necessary. is the percent positive or negative? explain.

Answer 1

Bryan's estimated cost of vacation is $120 lesser than the actual cost. To solve for the percent error divide this value (with the sign) by the actual cost and multiply by 100%. This is shown below,

(-120 / 850) x 100% = -14.12%

Thus, the percent error is approximately -14.12%. It is negative because his estimated value is lesser than the actual cost.