McKinley Middle School held a canned food drive for a local food pantry. Before the drive, the principal predicted the students would collect 600 cans of food, but he was pleasantly surprised when they collected 750 cans. What is the percent error for the principal's prediction?

Question

If necessary, round your answer to the nearest tenth of a percent.
%

Answer 1

To calculate the percent error for the principal's prediction, we can use the formula for percent error:

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

In this case:

• Actual Value = 750 cans
• Predicted Value = 600 cans

Now, let's calculate the absolute difference between the actual and predicted values:

\[ |\text{Actual Value} - \text{Predicted Value}| = |750 - 600| = 150 \]

Next, we substitute this value into the percent error formula:

\[ \text{Percent Error} = \left( \frac{150}{600} \right) \times 100 \]

Calculating the fraction:

\[ \frac{150}{600} = 0.25 \]

Now, converting this to a percentage:

\[ 0.25 \times 100 = 25 \]

Thus, the percent error in the principal's prediction is:

\[ \text{Percent Error} = 25.0% \]

Therefore, the percent error for the principal's prediction is 25.0%.