Julian and Brittany mailed 275 wedding invitations to family and friends and predicted that they would all attend only 265 out of 275 people committed to attending the wedding. Calculate the percent error in their prediction round your answer to the nearest 100%.

1 answer

To calculate the percent error in Julian and Brittany's prediction, we can use the formula for percent error:

\[ \text{Percent Error} = \left( \frac{\text{Absolute Error}}{\text{Actual Value}} \right) \times 100 \]

Step 1: Determine the actual value and predicted value.

  • Actual value (number of attendees) = 265
  • Predicted value (number of attendees they expected) = 275

Step 2: Calculate the absolute error.

\[ \text{Absolute Error} = |\text{Predicted Value} - \text{Actual Value}| = |275 - 265| = 10 \]

Step 3: Substitute the values into the percent error formula.

\[ \text{Percent Error} = \left( \frac{10}{265} \right) \times 100 \]

Step 4: Perform the calculation.

\[ \text{Percent Error} \approx \left( \frac{10}{265} \right) \times 100 \approx 3.77 \]

Step 5: Round the percent error to the nearest 100%.

Since 3.77% rounds to 4%, the final answer is:

\[ \text{Percent Error} \approx 4% \]

Thus, the percent error in their prediction is approximately 4%.