Determine the following estimate without using a calculator. Then use a calculator to perform the computation necessary to obtain an exact answer. How reasonable is your estimate when compared to the actual answer?
A full-time employee who works 40 hours per week earns $14.50
per hour. Estimate that person's annual income.
Estimate: Since there are 52 weeks in a year, the employee will work 2,080 hours in a year. Multiplying this by $14.50 gives an estimated annual income of $30,160.
Exact computation: To find the exact answer, multiply the hourly rate by the number of hours in a year.
Annual income = $14.50/hour x 2,080 hours/year
= $30,160
The estimate of $30,160 is the exact answer. Therefore, the estimate is reasonable.
To estimate the person's annual income, we can multiply their hourly wage by the number of hours they work in a week and then multiply that by the number of weeks in a year.
Step 1: Calculate the weekly income:
40 hours/week * $14.50/hour = $580/week
Step 2: Calculate the annual income:
$580/week * 52 weeks/year = $30,160/year
To obtain the exact answer using a calculator, we can multiply $14.50/hour by the number of hours in a year:
$14.50/hour * 40 hours/week * 52 weeks/year = $30,160/year
The estimate of $30,160 is reasonable compared to the exact answer of $30,160. The estimate was only an approximation, but it is very close to the exact answer, so it is reasonable.