Q:

Charlie guesses that his dog weighs 34.5 pounds. The dog actually weighs 32.7 pounds. What is the percent error in Charlie’s guess, to the nearest tenth of a percent? 0.05% 0.5% 5.2% 5.5%

Accepted Solution

A:
Percent error is the amount of error to actual value, in percent. The percent error in Charlie’s guess is approximately: Option D: 5.5%How to calculate the percent error?Suppose the actual value and the estimated values after the measurement are obtained. Then we have:Error = Actual value - Estimated valueTo calculate percent error, we will measure how much percent of actual value, the error is, in the estimated value.[tex]\rm Percent \: Error = |\dfrac{Error}{Actual value}|\times 100 \\\\Percent \: Error = | \dfrac{\text{(Actual Value - Estimated Value)}}{Actual value}|\times 100 \\[/tex](here |x| is such that it makes x non negative, thus, |-5| = 5, and |5| = 5)For the given case, it is specified that:Actual weight of dog = 32.7 poundsGuessed weight of dog, by Charlie : 34.5 pounds.Error = 32.7 - 34.5 = -1.8 poundsThus, percent error in Charlie's guess is calculated as:[tex]\text{Percent Error} = |\dfrac{-1.8}{32.7}| \times 100 \approx 5.5\%[/tex]Hence, the percent error in Charlie’s guess is obtained approximately is given by: Option D: 5.5%Learn more about percent error here: