Teresa estimates that the height of a giraffe in a zoo is 18 feet. In fact, it is 16 feet tall. What is Teresa’s percentage error? Use proportional relationships to solve the problem. Show all your work and round your answer to the nearest tenth.
To find Teresa's percentage error, we first need to find the absolute difference between her estimation and the actual height of the giraffe. The absolute difference is given by:
Absolute Difference = |18 - 16| = 2 feet
Next, we need to find the percentage that the absolute difference represents out of the actual height. This can be calculated by dividing the absolute difference by the actual height and multiplying by 100:
Percentage error = (Absolute Difference / Actual Height) * 100
Percentage error = (2 / 16) * 100 = 12.5%
Therefore, Teresa's percentage error is 12.5%.