Question

According to Guinness World Records, Jumpy the Dog set a record for the fastest 100 meters on a skateboard with 19.66 seconds on September 16, 2013. Arnie says that if you round Jumpy’s time to the nearest tenth of a second, Jumpy’s time is 19.6 seconds.

Is Arnie correct?
a) State if Arnie is correct or incorrect.
b) Show your work and explain how you know if Arnie is correct or incorrect.
c) Use what you know about rounding decimals in your explanation.
Enter your answer or explanation in the space provided. You may also use a drawing/visual representation to help explain or support your answer.

Answer 1

a) Arnie is incorrect.

Thus the correct option is b) To determine if Arnie is correct, let's examine the rounding of Jumpy's time.

Step-by-step explanation:

Arnie's assertion that rounding Jumpy's time to the nearest tenth of a second yields 19.6 seconds is incorrect. When rounding decimals, the rule is to look at the digit to the right of the desired decimal place.

If it is 5 or greater, the digit in the desired place is rounded up; if it is less than 5, the digit is rounded down.

In Jumpy's case, the hundredths digit in 19.66 is 6, which is greater than 5. Therefore, when rounding to the nearest tenth, the tenths digit (6) should be rounded up.

Consequently, the correct rounded time is 19.7 seconds, not 19.6 seconds as Arnie suggested.

Rounding involves making approximations to simplify values, and precision is crucial, especially in record-keeping scenarios.

Arnie's oversight in rounding highlights the importance of adhering to established rounding rules, ensuring accurate representation of data. In this context, the accurate rounded time for Jumpy the Dog's record-setting skateboard run is 19.7 seconds.