Question

John estimated he would need 500 cubic feet of mulch for a landscaping project. However, he only used 440 cubic feet of mulch to finish the project. How far off was John's estimate as a percentage of the actual amount of mulch needed? Responses 8% 8% 9.1% 9.1% 12% 12% 13.6%

Answer 1

John's estimate was off by 13.6% from the actual amount of mulch needed, which is calculated by dividing the difference between the estimated and actual amounts by the actual amount used and then multiplying the result by 100.

Step-by-step explanation:

John estimated he would need 500 cubic feet of mulch for a landscaping project but used 440 cubic feet. To find out how far off his estimate was as a percentage of the actual amount used, we subtract the actual amount from the estimate and then divide by the actual amount to get the error rate. The calculation will look like this:

Error = (Estimate - Actual) / Actual

Error = (500 - 440) / 440

Error = 60 / 440

Error = 0.1363

To convert this to a percentage, we multiply by 100:

Error Percentage = 0.1363 * 100

Error Percentage = 13.63%

This means John's estimate was off by 13.6% of the actual amount of mulch needed for the project.