Chapter One Approximation and Errors

1. It takes a horse 1 minute and 8.5 seconds to finish a 1200 metres race. Change the
unit of that time to minutes and correct the answer to 4 significant figures.
(10 marks)

2. The length of a cubic safe measures 39.5 cm. Estimate the volume of the safe in
litres correct to 2 significant figures.
(10 marks)

3. David finish a marathon 1 hour 24 minutes and 17 seconds.

(a) Round off the unit of this time to hours, correct to 4 significant figures.
(b) Round off the unit of this time to minutes, correct to 4 significant figures.
(10 marks)

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4. Joan measures that a box of pin (with 100 pieces inside) weighs 168 g, and the
1
relative error is . Find the possible range of weight of each piece of pin.
84
(10 marks)

5. It is given that the number of elastic in a box is 100.

(a) If the number is correct to 2 significant figures, write down all possible
numbers of elastic.
(b) If the number is correct to 1 significant figure, what is the difference between
the largest possible number and the smallest possible number of elastic?
(15 marks)

6. The time taken by Peter to finish a Grand Pix is measured 1 hour 33 minutes and
28.5 seconds and the error is at most 0.1 second. Find the percentage error of this
measurement. (Give the answer correct to 3 significant figures.)
(10 marks)

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7. It is known that the length of a cubic metal box is 8.5 cm, correct to the nearest
0.5 cm. Find the smallest possible volume of the box correct to 5 significant
figures.
(15 marks)

8. Steven measures the width of a rectangular playground to be 16.8 m and the

1
relative error is . Then he measures the length of the playground to be 25.58 m
840
25
and the percentage error is % . Find the possible range of the actual
1 279
(a) width,
(b) length,
(c) area
of the playground.
(Give the answers correct to 5 significant figures if necessary.)
(20 marks)

− END OF PAPER −

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Solutions

⎛ 8 .5 ⎞
1. 1 min 8.5 s = ⎜1 + ⎟ min
⎝ 60 ⎠
= 1.142 min, cor. to 4 sig. fig.

2. The estimated volume = (0.395 × 0.395 × 0.395) m3

= 0.061 629 875 m3
= 0.062 L, cor. to 2 sig. fig.

⎛ 24 17 ⎞
3. (a) 1 h 24 min 17 s = ⎜1 + + ⎟ h
⎝ 60 3600 ⎠
= 1.405 h, cor. to 4 sig. fig.
⎛ 17 ⎞
(b) 1 h 24 min 17 s = ⎜1 × 60 + 24 + ⎟ min
⎝ 60 ⎠
= 84.28 min, cor. to 4 sig. fig.

4. Let x g be the maximum error,

x
then relative error = .
168
x 1
∴ =
168 84
i.e. x=2
Hence, the actual weight of the box is (168 ± 2) g, i.e. it lies between 166 g and
170 g.
x
Since the actual weight of each piece of pin is g , the actual weight of each
100
piece of pin lies between 1.66 g and 1.7 g.

5. (a) The possible numbers of elastic are 100, 101, 102, 103, 104.
(b) The largest possible number of elastic is 149 and
the smallest possible number of elastic is 100.
∴ The difference = 149 – 100
= 49

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6. 1 h 33 min 28.5 s = (1 × 60 × 60 + 33 × 60 + 28.5) s
= 5 608.5 s
0 .1
Percentage error = × 100%
5 608.5
= 0.001 78%, cor. to 3 sig. fig.

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7. Maximum error = × 0.5 cm = 0.25 cm
2
Hence, the actual length of the box is (8.5 ± 0.25) cm, i.e. it lies between 8.25 cm
and 8.75 cm.
The smallest possible volume of the box
= (8.25 × 8.25 × 8.25) cm3
= 561.52 cm3, cor. to 5 sig. fig.

8. (a) Let x m be the maximum error of measuring width,

x
then relative error = .
16.8
x 1
∴ =
16.8 840
i.e. x = 0.02
Hence, the actual width of the playground is (16.8 ± 0.02) m, i.e. it lies
between 16.78 m and 16.82 m.
(b) Let y m be the maximum error of measuring length,
y
then percentage error = × 100% .
25.58
y 25
∴ × 100% = %
25.58 1 279
i.e. y = 0.005
Hence, the actual length of the playground is (25.58 ± 0.005) m, i.e. it lies
between 25.575 m and 25.585 m.
(c) The lower limit of the actual area of the playground
= (25.575 × 16.78) m2
= 429.15 m2, cor. to 5 sig. fig.
The upper limit of the actual area of the playground
= (25.585 × 16.82) m2
= 430.34 m2, cor. to 5 sig. fig.
Hence, the actual area of the playground lies between 429.15 m2 and 430.34 m2.