Question

Tommy is measuring his bedroom to determine how much paint he needs to cover the walls.

Answer 1

Answer:

Tommy's percent error is 10%.

Step-by-step explanation:

Percent error is found with the formula $\displaystyle P=\big{|}\frac{V_A-V_E}{V_E}\big|\times100\%$, where P is the percent error, $V_A$ is the actual value that you measure, and $V_E$ is the accepted value or the expected value. For instance, the accepted value for specific heat of water is:

$\bullet \ 4.184\ \text{joule/gram degrees Celsius}$

This would also be the expected value in a lab experiment.

We are given the accepted value of 15 feet. Therefore, we know that this is $V_E.$ Then, we see that Tommy measures the length as 13.5 feet - this is $V_A.$

Finally, we need to place these values into the equation and solve for P.

$\displaystyle P = \big{|}\frac{V_A-V_E}{V_E}\big{|}\times100\%\\\\P = \big{|}\frac{13.5-15}{15}\big{|}\times100\%\\\\P = \big{|}-\frac{1.5}{15}\big{|}\times100\%\\\\P = \big{|}-\frac{1}{10}\big{|}\times100\%\\\\P = \big{|}-0.1\big{|}\times100\%\\\\P = \big{|}-10\%\big{|}\\\\P = |-10\%| = 10\%$

Therefore, Tommy's percent error is 10%.