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Dean ran 5 miles this week and wants to know how many kilometers he ran. His work is below.

StartFraction 5 miles Over 1 EndFraction times StartFraction 1.61 kilometers Over 1 mile EndFraction = 80.5 miles

A 2-column table with 1 row titled Units of Length. Column 1 is labeled Customary System Units with entry 1 mile. Column 2 is labeled Metric System Units with entry 1.61 kilometers.

What are Dean’s errors? Select all that apply.
He has the wrong units in his answer.
Dean should have used two conversion factors.
Dean should have kilometers in the denominator of the conversion factor.
The decimal point in his answer is in the wrong place

1 answer

Let's assess Dean's work and identify the errors based on the provided details.

  1. He has the wrong units in his answer.

    • Dean's final answer is "80.5 miles," which is incorrect. He is trying to find out how many kilometers he ran, and he should have kilometers as his final unit. This statement is true.

  2. Dean should have used two conversion factors.

    • In this case, Dean only needs one conversion factor (1 mile = 1.61 kilometers) to convert miles to kilometers. Therefore, this statement is false.

  3. Dean should have kilometers in the denominator of the conversion factor.

    • To convert miles to kilometers, the conversion factor used should have kilometers in the numerator. Dean used it correctly as 1 mile in the denominator and 1.61 kilometers in the numerator, making this statement false.

  4. The decimal point in his answer is in the wrong place.

    • Since he calculated an answer of "80.5 miles," instead of kilometers, it is unclear how he arrived at this value. However, 5 miles converted to kilometers is approximately 8.05 kilometers, not 80.5. Thus, it seems that the decimal point issue is relevant here. This statement is true.

Summary of Errors:

  • He has the wrong units in his answer.
  • The decimal point in his answer is in the wrong place.

Thus, the correct selections would be:

  • He has the wrong units in his answer.
  • The decimal point in his answer is in the wrong place.