1. Number Systems

Approximations — Quiz

Test your understanding of approximations with 5 practice questions.

Practice Questions

Question 1

A student measures the length of a desk as $1.75$ meters. If the actual length is $1.73$ meters, what is the percentage error of the measurement, rounded to two significant figures?

Question 2

When performing a calculation involving multiplication and division, the final answer should be reported with the same number of significant figures as the measurement with the fewest significant figures. If you calculate the area of a rectangle with a length of $12.50$ cm (four significant figures) and a width of $3.2$ cm (two significant figures), what is the area expressed with the correct number of significant figures?

Question 3

A recipe calls for $250$ grams of flour. If the scale used has a precision of $ \pm 5$ grams, what is the range of possible actual masses of flour that could be measured?

Question 4

Consider a situation where a financial report truncates all monetary values to two decimal places. If an original value is $123.4567$ dollars, what value will be reported, and how does this affect the total sum if many such values are added?

Question 5

A cylindrical container has a measured radius of $3.0$ cm and a height of $10.0$ cm. If both measurements are precise to the nearest tenth of a centimeter, calculate the volume of the cylinder using the formula $V = \pi r^2 h$, and express the answer with the correct number of significant figures. Use $ \pi \approx 3.14159$ for calculation.