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?
You lease a car at $304
per month for 3
years. Estimate the total cost of the lease by rounding the monthly payment to the nearest hundred.
Rounding $304 to the nearest hundred gives $300.
To estimate the total cost, we can multiply the monthly payment by the number of months in 3 years:
$300/month x 36 months = $10,800
Using a calculator, the exact total cost of the lease is:
$304/month x 36 months = $10,944
Our estimate was off by $144, which is less than 2% of the actual cost. Therefore, our estimate was reasonable.
To estimate the total cost of the lease, we can start by rounding the monthly payment of $304 to the nearest hundred, which is $300.
To calculate the total cost for 3 years, we multiply the rounded monthly payment by the number of months in 3 years, which is 36 months.
Estimated total cost = $300 * 36 = $10,800
To find the exact answer, we can use a calculator.
Exact total cost = $304 * 36 = $10,944
Comparing the estimate to the actual answer, we see that the estimate of $10,800 is reasonably close to the actual total cost of $10,944. However, the estimate is slightly lower than the actual cost.