Question

Clare estimates that her brother is 4 feet tall. When they get measured at the doctor’s office, her brother’s actual height is 4 feet, 2 inches.

What was the error, expressed in inches?

What was the error, expressed as a percentage of the actual height?

Answer 1

Her error in terms of inches was 2 inches while her percent error was 4.166%

Explanation:

Step 1; From the given data Claire estimated her brother to be shorter than he actually was. She estimated his height to be 4 feet while it was actually 4 feet 2 inches.

We convert the feet into inches because 12 inches are equal to a feet.

4 feet = 4 × 12 inches = 48 inches

4 feet 2 inches = (4 × 12 inches) + 2 inches = 48 + 2 = 50 inches

Error in terms of inches = 50 inches - 48 inches = 2 inches.

Step 2 ; Her percent error is given by dividing the difference in values by the actual value multiplied by 100.

% error = (difference in values / actual value) × 100

Claire's % error = (50 - 48)/ 48 × 100 = 2/48 × 100 = 0.04166 × 100 = 4.166%.