Nathan is building a tree house. He needs wooden boards that are 16.45 feet, 7.3 feet, and 12.8 feet in length. What is the closest estimate of the total length he needs, in feet, to make sure he has enough wood for the tree house?

Answer 1

To estimate the total length of the wooden boards Nathan needs, we can round each of the board lengths to the nearest whole number:

• The first board is 16.45 feet, which rounds to 16 feet.
• The second board is 7.3 feet, which rounds to 7 feet.
• The third board is 12.8 feet, which rounds to 13 feet.

Now, we can add these rounded lengths together:

\[ 16 + 7 + 13 = 36 \text{ feet} \]

Thus, the closest estimate of the total length of wood Nathan needs is 36 feet.