Calculations with Upper and Lower Bounds

1) A rectangular field is measured as 340m long (to the nearest 10 metres), and 85m wide (to the nearest
metre). Find:

(a) the upper bound of the perimeter of the field

(b) the lower bound of the perimeter of the field

(c) the upper bound of the area of the field

(d) the lower bound of the area of the field

2) A car travels at 3.4 m/s (to 1dp) for 20 seconds (to the nearest second). Find:

(a) the upper bound of the distance travelled

(b) the lower bound of the distance travelled

3) Two cats are weighed; one weighs 5.4kg and the other 3.9kg (both to 1 decimal place).

(a) Find the upper bound of the difference in mass.

(b) Find the lower bound of the difference in mass.

𝐷
4) The speed of an object in an experiment is to be calculated using the formula S = 𝑇 . D has
been measured as 24cm (to the nearest cm), and T as 1.6 secs (to 1dp).

(a) Calculate the upper bound of the speed.

(b) Calculate the lower bound of the speed.

5) Write down the greatest lower bound and least upper bound for each of the following:

(a) 3.8 cm (to 2sf)

(b) 3.80 cm (to 3sf)

(c) 3.8 cm (to the nearest 0.2cm)

(d) 400 m (to 2sf)

(e) 1.35m (to nearest cm)

(f) 1.35m (to nearest 5cm)

6) I have a plan of the school grounds on a scale of 1:n. I measure the distance from the door to
the gate as 5.3cm (to the nearest mm) on the map, and 100m (to nearest 10m) on the ground.

(a) Find the largest and smallest possible value of n

(b) If the distance from the pond to the gate is measured as 7.8cm (to nearest mm) on the map),
find the largest and smallest possible distance it could be on the ground.

7) Triangle ABC is right-angled at A. AB = 7.6cm (to nearest 0.2cm). BC = 13.0cm (to 3sf).
Use Pythagoras to find the greatest lower bound and least upper bound of the length of AC.

8) If x = 80 (to the nearest 5) and y = 30 (to the nearest 10), find the greatest lower bound and
𝑥
least upper bound of the value of 𝑦. Find also the maximum possible error that could occur in
𝑥
using the given values to calculate 𝑦.