A trader estimated the mass of a bag of rice to be 25\text{ kg}, but the actual mass of th… — JAMB UTME

A trader estimated the mass of a bag of rice to be $25\text{ kg}$ , but the actual mass of the bag was $20\text{ kg}$ . Calculate the percentage error in the trader's estimate.

Answer: 25 %

Answer

The percentage error in the trader's estimate is

25\%

The absolute error is

25\text{ kg} - 20\text{ kg} = 5\text{ kg}

. Evaluating the error relative to the actual value gives

\frac{5\text{ kg}}{20\text{ kg}} = 0.25

, which equals

25\%

Step-by-Step Solution

Calculate the absolute error in measurement

Error =

|25 - 20| = 5\text{ kg}

Absolute error is the absolute difference between the estimated value and the true value.

Calculate the percentage error relative to the actual value

\text{Percentage Error} = \frac{5}{20} \times 100\% = 25\%

Percentage error must always be calculated using the actual (true) value as the denominator.

Key Concept

Percentage Error Calculation

Estimated Time:45s

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