Question

Question

Teresa estimates that the height of a giraffe in a zoo is 18 feet. In fact, it is 16 feet tall. What is Teresa’s percent error? Use proportional relationships to solve the problem. Be sure to show all your work, provide your answer as a percentage, and round your answer to the nearest tenth.(4 points)

Answer 1

To calculate Teresa’s percent error, we can use the following formula:

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

First, we will identify the estimated and actual values:

• Estimated Value = 18 feet
• Actual Value = 16 feet

Next, we calculate the absolute error:

\[ |\text{Estimated Value} - \text{Actual Value}| = |18 - 16| = 2 \text{ feet} \]

Now we substitute the absolute error and the actual value into the percent error formula:

\[ \text{Percent Error} = \left( \frac{2}{16} \right) \times 100% \]

Calculating the fraction:

\[ \frac{2}{16} = 0.125 \]

Now we multiply by 100% to find the percent error:

\[ 0.125 \times 100% = 12.5% \]

Finally, rounding to the nearest tenth (if necessary):

\[ \text{Percent Error} = 12.5% \]

Thus, Teresa’s percent error in estimating the height of the giraffe is 12.5%.