Approximation, rounding and estimationIB MYP Maths Extended: Flashcards

What these 12 flashcards ask

How do you round to n decimal places?
Where do significant figures start counting?
Round 0.0063584 to 3 s.f.
Round 0.0063584 to 3 d.p.
Round 48\,637 to 2 s.f.
Round 48\,637 to the nearest hundred.
How do you estimate a calculation?
Estimate \frac{58.7\times4.12}{0.198}.
State the formula for percentage error.
Which value do you divide by in percentage error?
When should you round up in a real problem?
When should you round during a multi-step calculation?

Exam questions on Approximation, rounding and estimation

A calculator displays the number $0.0063584$ .
Write the number to $2$ significant figures and state how many decimal places your answer has.2 marks
The population of a town is $48\,637$ .
The council reports the population as $49\,000$ . Find the percentage error, giving your answer to $2$ significant figures.2 marks
Consider the calculation $\frac{58.7\times4.12}{0.198}$ .
Estimate the value of the calculation by rounding each number to $1$ significant figure.3 marks

Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).