Question

A teacher asked 4 students to estimate the weight of 4 different objects. The table shown represents their estimates. Which student had the largest percent error?

Student 1 Actual weight: 15.6 pounds
Estimated Weight: 20

Student 2 Actual Weight: 14.3 pounds
Estimated Weight: 15 pounds

Student 3 Actual Weight: 12.7 pounds
Estimated Weight: 10 pounds

Student 4 Actual Weight: 21.4 pounds
Estimated Weight: 25

Answer 1

Student 1.

Explanation:

To find the percent error, we subtract the estimated weight and the actual weight, take the absolute value (to eliminate negatives) and divide by the actual weight.

For student 1, this is

|20-15.6|/15.6 = |4.4|/15.6 = 4.4/15.6 = 0.282

For student 2, this is

|15-14.3|/14.3 = |0.7|/14.3 = 0.7/14.3 = 0.049

For student 3, this is

|10-12.7|/12.7 = |-2.7|/12.7 = 2.7/12.7 = 0.213

For student 4, this is

|25-21.4|/21.4 = |3.6|/21.4 = 3.6/21.4 = 0.168

The largest of these is 0.282; this is student 1.

Answer 2

student one has the largest percent error.