Final answer:
The estimated difference between 12.1217 and 6.057, when rounded to the nearest whole number, is 6. This is calculated by rounding 12.1217 down to 12 and 6.057 down to 6, then subtracting the rounded numbers.
Step-by-step explanation:
Round and Estimate the Difference
To estimate the difference by rounding each number to the nearest whole number before subtracting, we will first convert each of the provided numbers: 12.1217 and 6.057. We round 12.1217 to 12 and 6.057 to 6 since those are the nearest whole numbers. The subtraction then becomes 12 - 6, which equals 6.
In addition and subtraction, the final result should have the same number of decimal places as the original number with the smallest number of decimal places. However, since we are estimating by rounding to the nearest whole number, our answer will be in whole numbers.
Here's an example for clarification:
- If we have 78.500m - 362m, we round to the nearest hundred because the first number is known to the nearest hundred.