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A group of meteorologists recorded the temperature in some cities at noon on one day.They recorded the temperature in Bristol using a thermometer that measures to the nearest 0.1 degrees C and found that the temperature was 15.6 degrees C.The temperature in Edinburgh was 14 degrees C colder than in Bristol,to the nearest degree.The temperature in Lisbon was 22 degrees C warmer than the temperature in Edinburgh,to the nearest degree.Work out the lower and upper bounds of the temperature at noon in Lisbon.Give your answer in degrees C.

User Polly Shaw
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Final answer:

The lower bound for the temperature in Lisbon is 23.05°C, and the upper bound is 25.15°C. These bounds were calculated based on the temperature measured in Bristol and adjustments for the temperature differences to Edinburgh and Lisbon, taking into consideration the precision of the thermometer and rounding conventions.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of the question involves calculating temperature bounds, which requires the use of arithmetic operations and an understanding of the significance of precision and rounding in measurements. Here is how we calculate the upper and lower bounds for the temperature in Lisbon, based on the information provided:

  • The temperature in Bristol is recorded as 15.6°C, to the nearest 0.1°C. Therefore, the lowest it could be is 15.55°C (15.6 - 0.05) and the highest could be 15.65°C (15.6 + 0.05).
  • Since the temperature in Edinburgh is 14°C colder than in Bristol to the nearest degree, we know that the temperature could actually be up to 0.5°C warmer or cooler than this value. So, the temperature in Edinburgh could be as low as 1.55°C (15.55 - 14 - 0.5) and as high as 2.65°C (15.65 - 14 + 0.5).
  • Lastly, Lisbon's temperature is 22°C warmer than Edinburgh's. Using Edinburgh's bounds, we find that the temperature in Lisbon could range from 23.55°C (1.55 + 22) to 24.65°C (2.65 + 22), when rounded to the nearest whole number. However, since we require precision to the nearest whole degree, we must add and subtract 0.5 from the final temperature to find the bounds. The lower bound is therefore 23.05°C (23.55 - 0.5) and the upper bound is 25.15°C (24.65 + 0.5).

Thus, the lower bound of the temperature in Lisbon at noon is 23.05°C and the upper bound is 25.15°C.

User Chris Nevill
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