Practice Approximation in Math
Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.
Quick Recap
A value intentionally chosen to be close to but not exactly equal to the true value, with a known or estimated error.
We use 3.14 for \pi, knowing it's not exactly right but close enough.
Example 1
easyEstimate \sqrt{50} to one decimal place without a calculator.
Example 2
mediumUse the approximation \pi \approx \dfrac{22}{7} to estimate the circumference and area of a circle with radius 14 cm. Compare with the decimal approximation \pi \approx 3.14159.
Example 3
easyEstimate 198 \times 52 using rounding, then compute the exact answer and find the percent error.
Example 4
mediumUse the first-order linear approximation \sqrt{a+\epsilon} \approx \sqrt{a} + \dfrac{\epsilon}{2\sqrt{a}} to estimate \sqrt{101}.