CM9 01 5.3_5.

2 Final 12/8/04 11:05 AM Page 1

Rational
numbers
Syllabus outcomes
NS5.2.1 Rounds decimals to a specified number of significant figures, expresses
recurring decimals in fraction form and converts rates from one set of units to another
WMS5.3.1 Asks questions that could be explored using mathematics in relation to
Stage 5.3 content
WMS5.3.3 Uses and interprets formal definitions and generalisations when
explaining solutions and/or conjectures
WMS5.3.5 Links mathematical ideas and makes connections with, and
generalisations about, existing knowledge and understanding in relation to
Stage 5.3 content

In this chapter you will learn to:

nidentify significant figures
nround numbers to a specified number of significant figures
nuse the language of estimation, including rounding, approximate and level
of accuracy
nuse symbols for approximation
ndetermine and assess the effect of truncating or rounding during calculations
on the accuracy of the results
ndecide on an appropriate level of accuracy for results of calculations
nappreciate the importance of the number of significant figures in a given
measurement
nuse an appropriate level of accuracy for a given situation or problem solution
nconvert rates from one set of units to another
nsolve problems involving ratios and rates
nrecognise that calculators show approximations for recurring decimals
nwrite recurring decimals in fraction form using calculator and
non-calculator methods
CM9 01 5.3_5.2 Final 12/8/04 11:05 AM Page 2

Significant figures and approximations

All measurements are approximations. No matter how hard we try to measure something
exactly, the accuracy of our measurement will depend on the precision of the measuring
instrument.
How accurately can you measure the temperature in this thermometer?
Is it 26°C? 27°C? We certainly cannot say 26.65°C.
30°C
We know that the temperature is in the 20s and can say that it is somewhere 25°C
between 25°C and 30°C. We are now deciding the last digit, and will estimate it as 7. 20°C

Significant figures in a measurement are all the digits in the measurement

that are known to be accurate, plus one estimated digit. In this example, we
know that 2 (for 20) is accurate, and we have estimated the second digit as 7.
Rules for finding significant figures in given numbers are:

All non-zeros are significant.

245 has 3 significant figures. 6.718 has 4 significant figures.

Zeros between non-zero digits are significant.

1078 has 4 significant figures. 3.06 has 3 significant figures. Here we recognise that
these decimal places were
measured but their values

Zeros at the end of a decimal number are significant. were zero.

1.470 has 4 significant figures. 102.00 has 5 significant figures.

Zeros before decimal numbers are not significant.

0.0027 has 2 significant figures. 0.036 010 0 has 6 significant figures.

1
not significant

not significant The zeros between
a decimal number

Final zeros in a whole number may or may not be significant. and the decimal
point are seen as
place holders.
6300 may have 2, 3 or 4 significant figures.
We need more information to say for sure. These zeros may be merely place holders (if the
number was measured to the nearest hundred) or they may have been measured but just
happened to be zeros (if there are, for example, exactly 6300 people in a stadium).

Digits between the first and last significant digit are all significant.

6300.0 has 5 significant figures.

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We often round off numbers to a given number of significant figures or to the nearest ten,
hundred and so on. Rounding off is a way of approximating. To the nearest million, the
population of Australia is 20 million. This may be all the accuracy needed for a particular
purpose. At this instant the population might be 19 862 045, but as this number
constantly changes, this level of accuracy may not be required, for example, in a
document to be published next year.
When rounding, we round up if the digit is 5 or more, and round down if the digit is less
than 5.
When rounding 4.2 to the nearest whole number, we round 3.7 4.2
down to 4.
3 4 5
When rounding 3.7 to the nearest whole number, we round
up to 4.

Examples
●
1 Round off 38 427 to the nearest thousand.
Draw a line after the thousands position. 38 427
Since the very next digit is 4, round down.
So 38 427 to the nearest thousand is 38 000.

●
2 Write 44.819 correct to the nearest tenth.
To the nearest tenth means to 1 decimal place.
Again draw a line, but this time after the first decimal place. 44.8 19
Since the very next digit after the line is 1, round down.
So 44.819 to the nearest tenth is 44.8.

●
3 Round off 0.078 41 to the nearest hundredth.
This time the digit after the line is 8, so round up by B
adding 1 to the previous digit. 0.07 841
So 0.078 41 to the nearest hundredth is 0.08.

●
4 Round off 0.246 518 to 3 decimal places.
The next digit is 5, so round up. So 0.246 518 to B
3 decimal places is 0.247. 0.246 518

●
5 Write 56 345 correct to 2 significant figures.
Here we need 2 significant figures in our answer. 56 345
Round down because the next digit is 3. ˝˝
12
Do not forget the zero place holders between
the significant figures and the decimal point.
So 56 345 to 2 significant figures is 56 000.

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●
6 Round off 0.1403 to 2 significant figures.
Round down because the next digit is 0. 0.14 03
So 0.1403 to 2 significant figures is 0.14. ˝˝
12

●
7 Write 0.036 98 correct to 3 significant figures.
Note that the significant figures begin with the 3. B
Here we round up by adding 1 to the previous digit. 0.0369 8
Note that the zero after 7 is significant and must be put in. ˝˝˝
123
So 0.036 98 to 3 significant figures is 0.0370.

E x e r c i s e 1A S I G N I F I C A N T F I G U R E S A N D A P P R O X I M AT I O N S

■
1 How many significant figures are there in each number?
a 36 b 4.2 c 3604 d 8137
e 4.9 f 11.0 g 0.0023 h 0.0001
i 40.00 j 0.0402 k 0.0020 l 3.020
m 20 002 n 0.060 40 o 0.002 34 p 0.000 000 63

■
2 How many significant figures are there in each number if each measurement was made
to the accuracy shown in parentheses?
a 4000 (nearest thousand) b 14 800 (nearest ten)
c 800 (nearest whole number) d 1800 (nearest hundred)

■
3 Hamish counted the people in a hall as 840. How many significant figures are there in
this number?

■
4 A speeding bullet travels at about 1426.2 km/h and a rocket in orbit travels at about
28 000 km/h. To how many significant figures was each measurement made?

■
5 Round off to the nearest whole number:
a 6.4 b 12.7 c 13.5 d 7.1
e 3.45 f 2.813 g 8.499 h 37.504

■
6 Round off to the nearest hundred:
a 2483 b 1944 c 32 684 d 11 705
e 41 852 f 550 g 7812 h 347.25

■
7 Round off to the nearest hundredth:
a 6.7812 b 2.0126 c 0.203 d 0.654
e 2.457 f 5.235 g 2.199 h 3.999

■
8 Round off to 1 decimal place:
a 16.45 b 2.84 c 3.75 d 18.04
e 10.76 f 8.12 g 2.18 h 3.99

■
9 Round off to 1 significant figure:
a 1 634 000 b 2.4596 c 12.03 d 18.78
e 320.7 f 34.15 g 8.095 h 0.002 145

■
10 Round off each number in question 9 to 3 significant figures.

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11 Given that 1000
75  1313 , in which way would you round in each of the following
situations? Explain why.
a How many $75 items can be bought for $1000?
b A bus holds 75 people. How many buses are needed to take 1000 students to a
swimming carnival?

■
12 a Round to the nearest tenth:
i 4.28 ii 4.33
b A number that has 2 decimal places is rounded to 4.3.
i What is the smallest this number could have been?
ii What is the largest this number could have been?

■
13 In an average human the normal platelet count in the blood is 250 000 per
cubic millimetre, correct to 2 significant figures. What might the exact measure have been?

■
14 Nine people are sharing equally a restaurant bill of $327.50.
a How much should each person pay?
b Is this a case where the answer is rounded up or down? Explain.

■
15 A room measures 4.2 m by 5.3 m. The floor is to be tiled.
2
Jim said: ‘We need to buy 4.2  5.3  22.26 m of tiles.’
2
Alyce said: ‘We need to buy 4  5  20 m of tiles.’
2
Demeter said: ‘We need to buy 5  6  30 m of tiles.’
Who was correct? Why?

■
16 When multiplying measurements, the rounded answer
should ideally have the same number of significant digits
as the least precise measurement. With that in mind, find
2
the area of a circle whose radius is 2.70 cm. (Use A  πr .)

■
17 Write down a number that rounds to:
a 470, correct to 2 significant figures b 470, correct to 3 significant figures

CD-ROM

Rounding with spreadsheets

There is a facility on spreadsheets that allows you to round numbers
to a certain number of decimal places.
p Open a new spreadsheet and type in the values shown in column A.
p In cell B1 type the command =ROUND(A1,2). Press Enter.
This command rounds the value written in cell A1 to 2 decimal
places and writes the result in cell B1.
p To repeat this command for the other numbers, highlight cells B1 to B7, go to the toolbar
and choose Edit Å Fill Å Down. Alternatively, place the cursor at the bottom right-hand
corner of cell B1 while it is highlighted so that the arrow turns into a +, then drag down to
cell B7 and release. In both cases, the numbers shown in column B should appear.

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■
1 How are the numbers in column B written? Are they all shown to 2 decimal places?
Comment.

■
2 Try rounding the numbers in column A to a different number of decimal places.

■
3 What do you think =ROUND(346.893,0) might return? Try it. (Click in an empty cell
and type this in.)

■
4 Explain why =ROUND(346.893,–1) returns 350.
On some computers, TRUNC (short for truncate) cuts off a number at a certain point. For
example, TRUNC(367.28,1) truncates 367.28 to 1 decimal place and returns 367.2.

■
5 What number is returned by:
a TRUNC(45.352,2)? b TRUNC(7.999,1)? c TRUNC(8.126+0.4,2)?

■
6 How can you use TRUNC to round off 54.762 to 1 decimal place?

Estimation
Estimation involves finding an approximate value.
For example, saying that a doorway is 2 m tall does
not (usually) mean it is exactly 2 m tall, but we know
that it is closer to 2 m than it is to either 1 m or 3 m.
Similarly, a grazier could tell you roughly how many
sheep were in a flock without counting, and a painter
can usually tell at a glance approximately how much
paint is needed to paint a house.

Examples
●
1 Estimate the cost of 12 sweets at 35c each.
At 35c each, you can get about 3 sweets for every dollar. So 12 sweets cost
around $4. The exact cost of 12 sweets is $4.20.

●
2 Jerry wants to estimate the height of the library building at his school.
It consists of a ground floor and a first floor. Suggest one way he could do this.
He could ask a friend to stand next to the building, then estimate how
many of his friends, standing on top of each other, it would take to reach
the top of the building. Given that each friend is about 2 m tall, he could
multiply this number by 2 and so have an estimate for the height of
the building.

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E x e r c i s e 1B E S T I M AT I O N

■
1 An audience of 10 005 people attended a concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre
and paid $79 for each of their tickets. How much money was raised from ticket sales?
■
2 What strategy can we use to determine one-third of:
a the length of this rectangle? b the circumference of this circle?

■
3 a Without measuring, estimate the diameter of:
i a 5c coin ii a 10c coin iii a 20c coin
b Now use a ruler to measure each diameter to the
nearest millimetre. How close were your estimates?
■
4 Five car instruments are shown:
6 7 F
80
5 60 100 4:36
4 40 120
D
3 20 140
2
0 160
1 km/h
0 E
A B C E
a What does each instrument measure?
b Which two dials do not indicate a quantity whose measure can be read?
c Which is the speedometer? Why do you think part of the dial is shaded?
d i Give an estimate of the engine revolutions.
ii Is it possible to read 3465 revolutions per minute from this instrument? Why?
iii Why is it not important that this instrument gives an exact reading?
e i Does the fuel gauge indicate how much petrol the tank can hold?
ii What is the function of this gauge in a car?

■
5 What is wrong with each clockface?
a b c
11 12 1 11 12 1 11
12
1
10 2 10 2 10 2
9 3 9 3
9 3
8 4 8 4
8 4
7 6 5 7 6 5 7 6 5

■
6 A clock lost its minute hand, but its hour hand works perfectly. Estimate these times:
a b c d

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■
2
7 Assume that each square represents 1 cm .
Estimate the area covered by each leaf.

a b
■
8 In many fast-food outlets, signs and posters are placed at strategic heights around the
room. In the event of a robbery, staff are asked to observe the robber in relation to a
sign. How can such information be useful to police?

■
9 Given these two angles,
estimate the sizes of angles A to E.

45°

D
B

A C
E

■
10 Explain how you could estimate the
size of each of the following, then
estimate their sizes:
a the width of a road
b the capacity of a coffee mug
c the height of an electricity pole
d the mass of a brick
e the volume of a bucket f the area of a postage stamp
g the capacity of a plastic shopping bag h the length of a truck
i the area of the classroom floor j the mass of this book

■
11 a Without measuring, estimate the length of this line in centimetres.

b The following lines have their lengths given.

6 cm

12 cm

c Do you want to refine your original estimate for a?

d Measure the line in a.
e How closely did your refined estimate compare with the measurement?

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Making reasonable estimates

Sometimes measuring instruments are not
available, and at other times we only need
approximations. Knowing that my petrol tank
is about 34 full tells me I have enough fuel to
last several days. I do not need to know that
there are exactly 45.27 L in the tank.

Examples
●
1 The distance between my outstretched thumb and little finger is 23 cm.
a How could I use this to measure the length of my desk?
1
b My desk is 52 hand spans across. What is its approximate length?
c Is this estimate reasonable?

a Starting from one end, count how many hand spans it takes to reach the
other side. Multiply this number by the hand span length.
b 512  23 cm
5  25 cm
 125 cm
and
mean ‘is
approximately equal to’.
The desk is approximately 125 cm long.
c 125 cm is a bit longer than a metre, and the
desk appears to be this length. (Imagine a
metre rule.) The estimate seems reasonable.

●
2 A rectangular room measures 4.5 m by 5.9 m. It is to be tiled using
square tiles that measure 20 cm on a side. Approximately how many tiles
are needed?
The area to be tiled is 4.5 m by 5.9 m.
2
Its area is approximately 4.5 m  6 m  27 m .
2
Each tile’s area is 0.2 m  0.2 m  0.04 m .
Now find how many times 0.04 goes into 27.
27 2700

0.04  4 (multiplying numerator and denominator by 100)
This fraction is slightly under 700, but 700 is a fair estimate, allowing for
offcuts and breakages. This may appear to be a lot of tiles, but once you
place a tile in a room of this size you can quickly see that this is a
reasonable estimate.

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W O R K I N G M AT H E M AT I C A L LY

Estimates and informal units

■
1 a Measure the width of the palm of your hand at
its widest part.
b The height of a horse is measured in hands.
(1 hand
4 inches and 1 inch
2.54 cm.)
What is a hand in centimetres?
c How close is the width of your palm to 1 hand?
d How do you think a hand can be used to
measure the height of a horse?
e The height of a horse is measured from
the ground to the highest point of the
horse's withers (the ridge between the
shoulder bones). Estimate the heights
of these horses in centimetres:
i Clydesdale, 16.5 hands
ii Arabian horse, 15 hands
iii Palomino, 14.5 hands
iv Shetland pony, 10 hands
f Are you taller than any of these horses?

■
2 a Take 10 normal steps.
b Use a tape measure to measure the
distance you covered.
c By division, find the length of your pace
(that is, 1 step).
d Repeat steps a to c 4 times and find an average length for your pace.
Knowing this distance, you can estimate distances by counting steps as you go.
e Use your pace to estimate the lengths of at least 3 objects, for example the
length of the netball court, the distance between 2 telegraph poles and the length
of a swimming pool.

■
3 The mile is a unit of distance in the imperial system of measurement. Originally
Roman legions would keep track of their paces (1 pace
1 double step) as they
marched from one place to another. Every 1000 paces or mille passus was a mile.
Surviving milestones on Roman roads are about 1520 m apart.
a How long was a Roman pace?
5
b Today we estimate a kilometre to be 8 of a mile. How long is a mile
in kilometres?

■
4 Throughout history people have used the body as reference points for estimations.
a Measure the following body parts on yourself or have a friend measure them
for you. Also measure your height.

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cubit
fathom
inch

foot

yard

span

b How do these traditional units compare with your measures?

p Foot: 25 cm in some ancient cultures, 30 cm in the Middle East, 30.8 cm in
ancient Greece and 29.6 cm in ancient Rome
p Inch: the width of a man’s thumb at the base of the nail or the distance from the
thumb knuckle to the tip of the thumb, 2.5 cm
p Span: the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger
when both are outstretched, 22.9 cm
p Cubit: the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, 45.7 cm
p Fathom: the distance between a man’s outstretched fingertips, traditionally 6 feet
(1.83 m)
p Yard: 3 feet (0.91 m), established after the Norman Conquest of 1066 when
King Henry I decreed that it should be the distance from his nose to the tip of his
outstretched finger
■
5 Use your body measures to estimate:
a the thickness of this book b the length of this page
c the length of your pen d the length of your desk
e the height of your classroom f the length of a classroom wall

■
6 The door frame in this room is 1.6 m wide. Work out the scale of the photograph
and then, without measuring, estimate:
a the height of the door
b the distance between the window
and the doorway
c the height of the window frame
d the width of the window frame
e the length of the wall
f the height of the wall

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Estimation strategies
Each year Australians throw out about 20 million
tonnes of garbage. This number was not obtained
by weighing all the garbage that goes to all the
garbage tips. That would be a costly and pointless
exercise. It was estimated by taking samples from
around the country.
In many situations an estimate is often good
enough, and the exact answer is not needed. We
use estimates all the time.
p How far did you walk today?
p How many people watched the game?
p How many fish are there around the reef ?
Estimation is important in mathematics because it allows us to see whether the answer
we calculated could be correct. For instance, 11.25  3.9 is about 40 (10  4).
The exact answer is 43.875, but if we had an answer of 438.75, we would
know from our estimation that it is wrong. It is easy to press
a wrong key on
There are several ways to estimate: the calculator, so
p by rounding use estimation
to check that
p by using front-end estimation your answers
p by using compatible numbers are reasonable.
p by clustering

Examples
●
1 Estimate 7327  2876 by rounding.
7000 
3000
_______
10 000
_______
Here each number has been rounded to the nearest thousand.
One estimate for this sum is 10 000.

●
2 Use front-end estimation to estimate 7327  2876.
¶ ¶
Add the left column of digits. 7327  7327 
Add the next column. 2876
______ 2876
______
Add these sums. 9000 1100
______ ______
Add.
An estimate for
this sum is 10 100. 10 100

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●
3 Use rounding and front-end estimation to estimate 118.3  57.2.
¶ ¶
118.3  Å 120  118.3  118.3 
57.2
______ 60
______ 57.2
______ 57.2
______
60
______ 60.0
______ 1.0
______
Add.

61
An estimate using rounding An estimate using front-end
is 60. estimation is 61.

●
4 Use compatible numbers to estimate 5735
82.
Rewrite these numbers as 5600
80  70. We use these numbers because
mentally we can quickly divide 8 into 56.
An estimate of this division is 70.

●
5 Use clustering to find 586 + 721 + 1407 + 275.
586  721  1407  275

These two add to These two add to

about 2000. about 1000.
Add.
3000
An estimate for this sum is 3000.
Clustering works best when certain key numbers can be obtained.

When estimating, use methods that suit the particular situations. Occasionally you may wish
to combine different estimation methods.

E x e r c i s e 1C E S T I M AT I O N S T R AT E G I E S

■
1 Estimate the following, then use a calculator to see how close your estimates were:
a 5286  3467 b 6.59  2.27  4.65 c 0.8165  0.2134
2
d 95.28
4.63 e 34.65  2.91 f (4.1)
g 3592
62 h 7.375
0.69 8.41  2.83
i (84.93  21.2)
(4.21  1.67) j 
10.1
2 2
(4.82)  (7.91)
k 527  915  467 l  410 m 
11.04  3
■
2 Find a whole number estimate for each expression:
2
13.85  19.15 114.1  83 (84.6)
a  b  c 
10.86  2.4 365.2  171 (7.1)2
d 26.5
  98.3
 e 
26.5 
98.3 f 4512  3234  6813

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3 A restaurant serves 240 cups of coffee each day. If 12 kg of coffee
makes 52 cups, approximately how many kilograms of coffee
will the restaurant use each week?

■
4 Penny used front-end estimation to find 6423  2815. She says
the method does not work. How could the method be altered to
give a reasonable estimate?

■
5 A farmer has a pentagonal paddock with boundaries 312 m, 295 m, 326 m, 274 m and
302 m. About how much fencing will he need?

■
6 The average Australian uses about 190 kg of paper each year.
a If the population is 20.1 million people, how many tonnes of paper will they use in
a year?
b Given that each tree produces 56 kg of paper, about how many trees could be saved
by recycling this paper? (Answer in terms of millions of trees.)
Estimation can also be used to determine reasonable answers. For each of questions 7 to 14,
choose the best answer.

■
7 Sally puts 16 shells in each bag. How many bags can she fill using 600 shells?
A 20 B 30 C 40 D 50

■
8 Drew can iron and fold a shirt in about 4 minutes. How many shirts can he iron and
fold in 2 hours?
A 20 B 25 C 30 D 40

■
9 A packet of snacks costs $2.45. How much can be saved by buying 6 packets on sale at
$1.98 each?
A $2.70 B $2.80 C $2.90 D $3.00

■
10 There are 24 sheets of paper in a quire. How many sheets are there in 712 quires?
A 150 B 160 C 170 D 180

■
11 A space shuttle can carry about 30 t of cargo. A compact car weighs about 1.1 t. What is
a reasonable number of compact cars that could be carried on the shuttle?
A 27 B 31 C 35 D 39

■
12 The height of an African elephant is about:
A 30 cm B 300 cm
C 30 m D 300 m

■
13 The weight of an African elephant is about:
A 65 kg B 650 kg
C 6.5 t D 65 t

■
14 The running speed of an African elephant
is about:
A 0.5 km/h B 5 km/h
C 50 km/h D 500 km/h

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■
15 a Write down the values of
81
 and
100 . Are these exact values or estimates?
b Use these values to estimate, correct to 1 decimal place:
i
90 ii
85 iii
95

c Use a calculator to check your estimates. Were you close?

■
n
16 Consider 2
20. By substituting, show that:
a 4n5 b 4.3  n  4.4
c 4.32  n  4.33

■
17 By substituting and then refining your estimates, find n correct to 3 decimal places:
n n n
a 2
50 b 3
60 c 10
500

Level of accuracy and approximations

The area of this circle can be calculated using a calculator as:
2
A
πr 3 cm
2

π3
2

28.274 333 88 cm
The calculator has given this answer correct to 8 decimal places.
Should we accept this level of accuracy?
The radius is given to the nearest whole centimetre. What would happen if the radius was
actually 2.9 cm or 3.1 cm, and was rounded to 3 cm for convenience?

2 2
2.9 cm A
πr 3.1 cm A
πr
2 2

π  2.9
π  3.1
2 2

26.420 794 22 cm
30.190 705 4 cm

The three areas calculated are considerably different.

The accuracy of any calculation is limited by how accurately the numbers in any measurement
are given. In all calculations involving multiplication and division, the number with the
fewest significant figures determines the number of significant figures that should be given
in the answer.
Since the radius of the circle is given as 3 cm (1 significant figure), ‘Approximately equal to’
2 can be written with either
we should write the area of the circle as A
30 cm (correct to of these two symbols:
1 significant figure). However, it would be all right in this example if
or 
2
you gave the area of the circle as 28 cm (the nearest whole number),
because the radius is given to the nearest whole number. The point
to remember is that even though the calculator can give many digits,
they may not all be meaningful.

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 15
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Examples 2
624 cm is also a
●
1 A sheet of A4 paper measures 29.7 cm by 21.0 cm. reasonable estimate,
because the number of
a What is a reasonable estimate for its area? significant figures is the
b What is a reasonable estimate for its diagonal length? same as the fewest
c What fraction of a square metre does the A4 sheet cover? number of significant
figures in the question.
a Using a calculator:
2
A  29.7  21.0  623.7 cm (correct to 1 decimal place)
It is reasonable to give the area correct to 1 decimal place
because the length and breadth are given to 1 decimal place.
b Using Pythagoras’ theorem to find the hypotenuse, h:
2 2 2
h  29.7  21.0
2
h  1323.09
 h  36.374 304 12
A reasonable estimate for the diagonal length (hypotenuse) would be
36.4 cm. Certainly with a ruler you would not be able to measure the
diagonal any better than this. Also, the side lengths were given correct
to 1 decimal place, so the hypotenuse should not be given to a greater
degree of accuracy.
2 2
c 1 m  10 000 cm (1 m  1 m  100 cm  100 cm)
623.7 1
10 000  0.062 37 of a square metre. This is about 16
So the sheet covers   

(0.0625) of a square metre.

●
2 Calculate the volume of this cube.

V  lbh 2.5 cm
 2.5  2.5  2.5
2.5 cm
 15.625 2.5 cm
The given measurements are only accurate to
2 significant figures, so your answer should reflect this.
3 3
The volume is 16 cm (correct to 2 significant figures) or 15.6 cm
(correct to 1 decimal place, which is reasonable).

●
3 When the cube in example 2 was remeasured, it was found that the solid
was not exactly a cube but a rectangular prism. What is its volume now?
The same formula applies.
V  lbh
2.48 cm
 2.51  2.52  2.48
 15.686 496 2.52 cm
2.51 cm

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Obviously not all these digits are significant.

3
Your answer should reflect this. You should write the value as 15.7 cm or
3
as 16 cm (rounding off the calculator answer appropriately).

3
Can you see that in these two examples, 16 cm as a measure for the volume
of this ‘cube’ (whose sides cannot be measured exactly) is about the best you
can expect?

E x e r c i s e 1D L E V E L O F A C C U R A C Y A N D A P P R O X I M AT I O N S

■
1 Use your calculator to find the values of these and give each answer to a reasonable
level of accuracy:
2 1 1
a 11.2  5.1 b 4.5
 c 
3  7
3 84.7
e 
2
d 20
 f 20  π
12.1  15.8
■
2 When estimating, always consider the context. Which of the following is a reasonable
estimate for the mass of a baby?
A 3.2 kg B 3.196 kg C 3.2107 kg

■
3 A room measures 18.4 m by 9.2 m. What is a reasonable estimate for its area?

■
4 Tabatha claims to have measured the length of a table as 2.310 415 m. Can her claim
be true? Comment.

■
5 The thickness of a ream of paper (500 sheets) is 51 mm. Estimate the thickness of
1 sheet of paper.

■
6 The radius of a circle is between 15 mm and 16 mm.
a Calculate the area of the circle twice, using these r
two measurements.
b Between which two measurements would the actual area lie?
c Justin took 15.5 mm as an approximate radius for this circle.
What area will he calculate? What is a reasonable
approximation for the area?

■
2
7 Bianca calculates the area of this circle as 88.247 337 64 cm .
She says this must be right because she checked it on the 5.3 cm
calculator twice. Can the area of the circle have this level of
accuracy? Explain.

■
8 a Evaluate 45
  15.87 correct to 3 decimal places using
a calculator.
b Round off 45 to the nearest whole number. Now multiply the result by 15.87.
c Round off 45 correct to 1 decimal place, then multiply the result by 15.87.
d What effect does rounding have on the accuracy of the result?

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 17
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■
9 Kim and Chris were asked to calculate the volume of this prism
correct to 1 decimal place. They used the following methods:
Kim: p Multiply: 4.5  6.3  28.35
p Round 28.35 to 1 decimal place: 28.4 6.3 cm
p Multiply: 28.4  3.2  90.88
p Round this to 1 decimal place: 90.9 3.2 cm
3
p The volume is 90.9 cm (correct to 1 decimal place). 4.5 cm

Chris: p Multiply: 4.5  6.3  3.2  90.72

p Round this to 1 decimal place: 90.7
3
p The volume is 90.7 cm (correct to 1 decimal place).
Whose calculation is more accurate? Why?

■
22
10 
7 is often given as an approximation for π.
22
a To how many significant figures are π and 7 equal?
22
b Calculate 7  π correct to 3 significant figures.
10 1
c i Show that 3  π  23  and 371  π  37.
ii Which inequality gives a narrower boundary range?
d In 1674 Leibniz derived this formula:
π 1 1 1

4  1  3  5  7  …
Show that you need to add approximately 50 terms to get a 2-digit accuracy for π.

Ratios and rates

A ratio is a comparison of two or more like quantities. A rate is a comparison of two
unlike quantities.
The simplest rate you might know is speed. For example, a car travelling at 60 km/h covers a
distance of 60 km in 1 h. This can be written as the equivalent rate of 60 000 m/h, since the
car has moved the same distance (60 km or 60 000 m) in the same time (1 h).
A rate is written in simplest form when the second quantity is a single unit. For example,
150 km in 3 h written in simplest form is 50 km in 1 h or 50 km/h.

Examples
●
1 The ratio of the angles in a triangle is 3 : 4 : 5. What is the size of each angle?

 180°

3 parts 4 parts 5 parts

180
2  15°.
The total of the 12 parts is 180°, so each part is 1

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So the sizes of the angles are 3  15°, 4  15° and 5  15°; that is, 45°, 60°
and 75°.

●
2 Express each rate in simplest form:
a 45 L in 5 min b $750 in 30 h
45 L $750
a In each minute, this is 5  9 L. 0  $25.
b In each hour, this is 3
So the rate is 9 L/min. So the rate is $25/h.

E x e r c i s e 1E R AT I O S A N D R AT E S

■
1 Simplify:
a 2 m to 5 m b 300 mL to 1 L c $4 to 50c
1
d 50c to $4 e 250 g to 22 kg f 4 : 212

■
2 At a party the ratio of boys to girls was 4 : 5. There were 28 boys.
a How many girls were there? b How many people were there altogether?
c What is the ratio of: i girls to boys? ii girls to total people?

■
3 $2000 is divided in the ratio 7 : 3 between George and Kerry. How much does each receive?

■
4 The angles in a quadrilateral are in the ratio 1 : 2 : 4 : 3. What is the size of each angle?

■
5 The ratio of Kate’s new salary to her previous salary is 4 : 3. If her previous salary was
$42 000, what is her new salary?

■
6 The ratio of two solutes, A and B, in a solution is 4 : 5. Altogether 18 g of solute was used
in 112 L. How much of each solute is present in 400 mL?

■
7 The ratio of the weights of Bill and Jane is 5 : 3. If the lighter person weighs 57 kg, who is
the heavier person, and how much do they weigh?

■
8 The new photocopier can make 32 copies per minute. This was an increase in the ratio
8 : 5 over an old photocopier. How many copies per minute could the old copier make?

■
9 Employees were granted a 25% increase in wages owing to cost savings. What is the
ratio of the new wage to the old wage?

■
10 Two places on a map are 3.4 cm apart. The scale reads 1 : 50 000. How far apart are
these places?

■
11 On another map with scale 1 : 2 500 000, two towns are separated by 7.8 cm. How far
apart are they?

■
12 The ratio of alcohol in a person’s breath compared to that in their blood is 1 : 2100.
If there are 18 parts of alcohol in a certain volume of a person’s breath, how many parts
of alcohol would there be in an equivalent volume of blood?

■
13 Cans of soft drink sold for $6.60 per dozen. What is the cost per can?

■
14 The fuel consumption of Bob’s car is 7 L/100 km.
a How much fuel does he use in travelling 550 km?
b What is the cost of this fuel at 89 c/L?

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 19
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■
15 An electrician charges $22 per quarter-hour. How much is charged for a job that
takes 212 h?

■
16 Express as a rate in simplest form:
a 80 m in 16 s b $44 in 4 h
1
c 128 km on 9.2 L of fuel d 68 L in 32 min
1
e 123 runs in 27 overs f 250 heart beats in 24 min
2 1
g 32 m paint per 42 L h 18% interest in 365 days
i 163 kB in 5.2 s j $1.10 for a 5 min telephone call

Converting rates
Often we are interested in converting rates from one set of units to another. Suppose it takes
60 L
10 min  6 L/min.
10 min to fill a bath up to 60 L. The rate at which water flows from the tap is  

However, we may want to express this rate in litres per second (L/s). To do this, say that
1
because there are 60 s in 1 min, in 1 s the tap will deliver 60 of 6 L, so we can write:
1 1

60  6 L/s  10 L/s

When converting rates like this, we need to be careful that we are multiplying or dividing by
the correct conversion factor. An easy way of converting rates is to write the conversion as a
1 min 60 s
fraction (such as   
60 s or 1 min ) so that the units you do not want cancel out, leaving the units
you do want. There is no limit to the number of conversions you can string together like this.

Examples
Check that you have
●
1 Convert 4 L/min to litres per second (L/s). the units you want in
your answer.
Write the units (L/min) as a fraction, then multiply
by the conversion written as a fraction.
4L 1min 4L
    

min 60 s 60 s
1
 4 L/min  15 L/s

●
2 Change 4.5 cm/s to metres per minute (m/min).
In this example, the conversion

4.5 cm 60 s 1m 4.5  60 m 1 min  60 s is written with
       ‘60 s’ on the top.
s 1 min 
100 cm 100 min
 4.5 cm/s  2.7 m/min

In example 1,
‘60 s’ was on
the bottom.

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●
3 Convert 60 km/h to metres per second (m/s).

60 km 
1h 1min 1000 m 60  1000 m Change the
         hours to

h 
60 min 60 s 1km 60  60 s minutes, then
2
 60 km/h  163 m/s the minutes
to seconds.

E x e r c i s e 1F C O N V E R T I N G R AT E S

■
1 A bank quotes an interest rate of 6% per annum. What is this rate written as a
percentage:
a per half-year? b per quarter? c per month?

■
2 A credit card statement quoted an annual interest rate of 18.00% and a daily interest
rate of 0.0493%. Explain how the daily figure was calculated.

■
3 A credit card charges a daily interest rate of 0.050%. Calculate the equivalent annual rate.

■
4 Complete:
a 250 mm/s  … cm/s b 842 c/L  $ … /L
2
c 4.65 ha/day  … m /day d 18.4 t/week  … kg/week
e 0.42 m/h  … cm/h f 630 L/min  … kL/min

■
5 Complete:
a 15 mm/s  … mm/min b 1140 c/L  … c/mL
c 1440 kg/h  … kg/min d 100 km/h  … km/day
e 3200 L/min  … L/s f 34 kB/s  … kB/min

■
6 Complete:
a 150 cm/s  … m/min b 7.2 mL/m  … L/km
c 20 c/g  $ … /kg d 360 m/min  … km/h
2
e 400 m /day  … ha/week f 60 km/h  … m/min

■
7 Convert each rate to the units shown in brackets:
a 15 L/min [L/s] b 84 cm/s [cm/min]
c 3.2 pages/s [pages/min] d 0.4 g/mL [g/L]
e 0.6 m/s [cm/s] f 25 m/s [cm/min]
g 420 cm/s [m/min] h 25 m/s [km/h]
i $6.75/L [c/mL] j 12 mL/s [L/h]

■
8 Around schools, speed is limited to 40 km/h.
a What is this speed in metres per second (m/s) correct to 1 decimal place?
b A driver is distracted for 3 s. What distance does he cover in this time at 40 km/h?

■
9 In cricket, the wickets stand 22 yards apart.
a One yard is 0.914 m. How far apart are the wickets?
b A bowler bowls a ball and it covers the distance between wickets in 1 s. What is this
speed in kilometres per hour (km/h) correct to 1 decimal place?

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 21
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■
10 Cory covered 100 m in 7.5 s on his skateboard.
a Express this as a speed in metres per second (m/s).
b Convert his speed to kilometres per hour (km/h).

■
11 As you go up a mountain, the temperature drops by 1°C
for every 100 m you ascend. At a point in the Blue
Mountains 950 m above sea-level, the temperature is
14.5°C. What is the equivalent temperature at sea-level?

■
12 Jennifer earns $18.40 an hour. How much does she earn
when she works 35 hours in a week?

■
13 A general purpose fertiliser is to be applied at the rate of
2
150 g/m .
a What is this rate in kilograms per hectare (kg/ha)?
b How much fertiliser is required to fertilise an area of
240 ha? (Give your answer in tonnes.)
c Given that 1 t of fertiliser costs $450, find the cost of
fertilising 240 ha.

■
14 A tap drips at the rate of 2 mL/min. How much water is wasted in a week?

■
15 A factory produces 240 jars each minute. How long does it take to make 100 000 jars?

■
16 Petrol costs 87c/L.
a How much petrol does $25 buy?
b How much does it cost to completely fill a car tank of capacity 55 L?

■
17 Matilda’s car can travel 495 km on a tank of petrol. The last time she filled up she paid
$28.80 for 32.4 L of petrol.
a What is the cost of a litre of petrol (to the nearest tenth of a cent)?
b Given that Matilda’s car uses an average 7.2 L/100 km, what is the capacity of
her tank?
c What will it cost Matilda to drive from Sydney to Melbourne, a distance of 995 km,
assuming petrol consumption rates and petrol costs do not vary?

■
18 The pronghorn antelope has been observed to travel at 56 km/h for 6.4 km. How long,
in minutes and seconds, does it take the antelope to cover this distance?

■
19 A farm produces barley at the rate of 3 t/ha.
2
a What is this rate in kilograms per square metre? (kg/m )?
b If there is 10% protein in the barley grain, how many grams of protein is this for
each square metre?

■
20 When Brett makes coffee, he places 1 teaspoon (0.25 g) of freeze-dried coffee in his
coffee cup (capacity 250 mL).
a How many cups of coffee would 1 g of freeze-dried coffee make?
b What amount of coffee (in litres) would a 250 g jar of coffee make?
c Brett drinks 3 cups of coffee each day. How long would a 250 g jar last him?
d Given that each jar costs $8.50, what is the cost of the coffee in each cup?

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■
21 A survey found that boys aged 12–19 consume soft drink at the rate of 868 cans
per year.
a What is the average daily consumption rate (correct to 1 decimal place)?
b Given that boys get 44% of their 34 teaspoons of sugar a day from soft drinks, about
how many teaspoons of sugar are there in each can?
c Girls drink about one-quarter less soft drink than boys. What is the average daily
consumption rate for girls?
d Some people in this age-group drink very little soft drink. What does this say about
the sugar consumption among other drinkers?

■
22 Wildflowers do not require any fertiliser except when they are planted in very nutrient-
poor soils. The advice for poor soils is to spread fertiliser at the rate of 30 kg/ha.
2
a How much fertiliser is needed to cover 60 m ?
b What area in square metres will 1 kg of fertiliser cover?

■
23 The graph shows the value of the Australian dollar compared to the US dollar over a
10-year period.

Value of Australian dollar

0.80

0.70
US dollars

0.60

0.50

Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec.
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Time

a What was the value of the Australian dollar in US dollars in:

December 1993?
i
June 1996?
ii
b An item costs $1000 in Australia. How much did this item cost in US dollars in
December 1998?
c A tourist has $1000 in US dollars. How many Australian dollars would this buy in
June 2003?
d When, during this period, was the best time to exchange Australian dollars for
US dollars?

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 23
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■
24 The moon revolves about Earth, making a complete revolution in 27.3 days. Assume
that the orbit is circular and that its radius is 239 000 miles.
a Given that 1 mile  1.609 km, calculate the moon’s orbit radius in kilometres correct
to 3 significant figures.
b Use C  2πr to calculate the length of the moon’s orbit in kilometres (to the nearest
thousand).
c Calculate the speed of the moon in its orbit in kilometres per hour (km/h) correct to
2 significant figures.

■
25 The knot (kn) or nautical mile per hour is still commonly used in navigation.
a Given that 1 nautical mile  1852 m, express 1 kn in kilometres per hour (km/h).
b A ship averages 25 kn. Calculate the time it takes for it to travel from Sydney to
Melbourne, a distance of 1200 km.

■
26 A car’s petrol consumption is usually given in litres per 100 km travelled. A Hyundai has
an average petrol consumption of 7.8 L/100 km.
a How much fuel is used to travel 650 km?
b Calculate the cost of fuel at 93.9c/L.

Recurring decimals
p
Rational numbers are numbers that can be written in the form q
4 is rational.
where p and q are integers and q does not equal zero. ‘Rational’ just Why?
means they can be written as a ratio of one whole to another whole.
3 7 3
Some examples of rational numbers are 4, 7 ( 1) and 0.3 ( 10 ).
Irrational numbers are numbers that are not rational. That is, they
p
cannot be written in the form q where p and q are integers. Some
examples of irrational numbers are π, 2  and 3.
A recurring decimal is one whose digits after the decimal point do not end but repeat a
sequence forever, for example 0.121 212 …, 0.111 111 … and 0.745 374 53 …. Recurring
decimals are also known as repeating decimals or periodic decimals. The number of digits in
the repeating pattern is called the period, so the period of 0.121 212 … is 2 and the period of
0.745 374 53… is 4.
To save writing the repetitious digits over and over again, we place dots
over the first and last digits in the sequence to indicate the repetition.
Only one dot is needed for a single repeating digit. For example:

0.444 444 …  0.4

0.121 212 …  0.12
 A terminating
0.235 555 55…  0.235 decimal finishes—it
  does not keep repeating.
0.745 374 53…  0.7453

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Sometimes the repeating cycle of a recurring decimal is so long (especially using the limited
digit display of a calculator) that it is easy to believe it does not repeat. For example:
5

43  0.116 279 069 767 441 860 465… (with 21 digits in the repeating cycle)
1

397  0.002 518 891 687 657 430 730 478 589 420 654 911 838 790 931 989 92…
(with 99 digits in the repeating cycle!)
1
All terminating and recurring decimals can be expressed as fractions. For instance, 0.25  4,
1 133
0.333 333 3…  3 and 0.671 717 17…   
198 . (Some mathematicians argue that all fractions
can be written as decimals that recur, even if that recurring digit is zero, such as
1
  0.250 000 0… .) So all recurring decimals are rational numbers.
4

On the other hand, irrational numbers, when written as decimals, never repeat. From a
calculator, π  3.141 592 654… and 2  1.414 213 562…, and even with many more digits
shown, these decimals show no repeating patterns—the sequences appear to be random.
Until recently, calculators could change fractions into decimals but could not easily change
decimals into fractions. However, many calculators now have an in-built facility for converting
decimals to fractions. Check your calculator manual for this. To convert a recurring decimal to a
fraction, form two equations and subtract one from the other, then solve the resulting equation.

Examples

●
1 Write 0.4 as a fraction.

Now 0.4  0.444 444 4…, so let x  0.444 444 4….
There is only 1 repeating digit, so multiply the equation by 10 to form:
10x  4.444 444 4…
For 1 repeating digit,
Write the original equation: x  0.444 444 4… multiply by 10; for 2
Now subtract: 9x  4 repeating digits, multiply by
4 100; for 3 repeating digits,
x  9 multiply by 1000.
 4
 0.4  9
4
Use your calculator to check that 9 is 0.444 444 4…. In other words, for
n repeating digits,
●
n
2 Convert to fractions: multiply by 10 .
 
a 0.7 2 b 0.645

a Now 0.7 2  0.727 272 72…, so let x  0.727 272 72….
There are 2 repeating digits, so multiply by 100:
To use your calculator
100x  72.727 272 72…
to simplify this fraction,
x  0.727 272 72… press 72 a b/c 99
.
Subtract: 99x  72 Your calculator should
72 8 return 181 .
x  99 or 11
 8
 0.72  11

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 The repeating decimal

b Now 0.645  0.645 555 55…, so let x  0.645 555 55…. numbers should line up
under each other so
There is only 1 repeating digit, so multiply by 10: that the repeating
10x  6.455 555 55… values cancel out.
x  0.645 555 55…
Subtract: 9x  5.81
To remove the decimal point, multiply both sides by 100:
900x  581
581
x 
900 After the subtraction, remove
This fraction cannot be simplified any further, so: any decimal points by
 581 multiplying both sides by the
0.645  
900 appropriate power of 10.

E x e r c i s e 1G RECURRING DECIMALS

■
1 Write as fractions:
a 0.2 b 0.24 c 0.245 d 0.02 e 0.002 f 0.025

■
2 Write as terminating decimals:
9 3 9 31 41 336
a  b  c  d  e  f 
10 5 20 50 80 500

■
3 Write as decimals correct to 3 decimal places:
5 7 4 7 84
a  b  c  d  e 
6 12 11 52 97

■
4 Write as decimals correct to 3 significant figures:
3 1 3 19 6
a  b  c  d  e 
7 15 47 235 351

■
5 Write as decimals correct to 4 significant figures:
5 11 3 79 4
a 571 b 315 c 12 
247 d 20 
535 e 15 
859

■
1
6 Some students mistakenly write 3 as 0.3 instead of 0.3. Explain the difference between

0.3 and 0.3.

■
7 What is the period of each recurring decimal?

a 0.233 33… b 0.302 302 … c 0.003 456 565 6… d 0.07
   
e 0.135 f 0.807 8 g 11.2

■
8 Some fractions do not seem to repeat when written as decimals, but they can be
written as the sums of repeating decimals.
1
Explain why 81 can be written as 0.011 111 …  0.001 111 1…  0.000 111 11…  ….

■
1
9 a Write 99 as the sum of an infinite number of terminating decimals.
1
b Write 98 as the sum of an infinite number of terminating decimals.
1
c Write 97 as the sum of an infinite number of terminating decimals.
d Can you see a pattern here? If so, what is it?
1
e Without calculating the fraction 95 , write it as the sum of an infinite number of
terminating decimals. Now use your calculator to check if you are correct.

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■
10 Write as fractions:
    
a 0.2 b 0.7 c 0.07 d 0.2 5 e 0.36
        
f 0.7 8 g 0.135 h 0.246 i 0.567 j 0.5607

■
11 Write as fractions:
    
a 0.12 b 0.27 c 0.048 d 0.361 e 0.643
     
f 0.495 g 0.0678 h 0.45 31 i 0.2567

■
12 a Write as repeating decimals:
1 2 3
i  ii  iii 
9 9 9
b Considering the pattern, write the following as repeating decimals without
calculating them first:
4 7 8
i  ii  iii 
9 9 9

■
13 How can you show that 0.9  1?

■
14 Note the following pattern for repeating decimals:
2 54 298
0.222 222 22…  9 0.545 454 54…  99 0.298 298 298…   
999
54 6
Sometimes these fractions can be further simplified. For example, 99  11 .
Write as fractions in simplest form:
a 0.555 55… b 0.808 080… c 0.636 363… d 0.490 490 …

e 0.234 234 … f 0.678 967 89… g 0.714 671 46… h 0.08
    
i 0.7 2 j 0.375 k 0.5127

■
15 Note the pattern formed if zeros precede the repeating decimal:
2 54 298
0.022 222 222 …  90 0.000 545 454 54…   
99 000 0.002 982 982 98…   
99 900
Placing zeros in the denominator places zeros before the repeating decimal. Write as
fractions in simplest form:
a 0.033 33… b 0.077 77… c 0.026 262 6… d 0.048 484 8…

e 0.071 371 3… f 0.005 555 5… g 0.007 272 72… h 0.02
     
i 0.015 j 0.08 94 k 0.0062 l 0.000 102

■
16 There is another method of converting a recurring decimal to a fraction. It is used for
decimals that begin with non-repeating parts, such as 0.284 564 564 …. Write the
decimal as the sum of the non-repeating part and the repeating part, then convert each
of these decimals to fractions:
28 456
0.28  0.004 564 564 …  
100  99 900
 

The first fraction’s denominator is a power of ten. The second fraction is found using
the pattern in the previous question.
Now add these fractions by writing them with a common denominator:
27 972 456 28 428

99 900 
99 900  99 900
 
2369
Write this answer in simplest form: 
8325
(These last 2 steps could be done with your calculator.)
Check with your calculator that this fraction is 0.284 564 564 5….

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 27
CM9 01 5.3_5.2 Final 12/8/04 11:05 AM Page 28

Write as fractions in simplest form:

a 0.733 33… b 0.270 606… c 0.345 454 5… d 0.841 111 1…
    
e 0.205 f 0.817 3 g 0.2593 h 0.356 24

■
1
17 a Write down the recurring decimal for 6.
1 2
b Use this to determine what fraction must be added to 6 to produce 3.

■
11
18 a Write down 30 as a recurring decimal.
11 2
b Without using your calculator, determine what fraction must be added to 30 to give 3.

■
1 1 1
19 a Given 3  0.3 , write down 30 and  
300 .
1 2 1
b Show that 15  30 and hence express 15 as a recurring decimal without using
a calculator.
1 13 135 1357
■
20 a Show that:       
3 57 7  9  11 9  11  13  15
1
b What is the next term in this pattern? Does it also equal 3?
2
c Study this pattern: 1  3  2
2
1353
2
13574
2 2
Explain why 5  7  4  2 .
2
1357 4
  
d Explain why
9  11  13  15  82  42 .
1  3  5  …  15
e Write an equivalent fraction involving squares for  .
17  19  …  31
1  3  5  …  365
f A student wrote  . What value must replace the square for
367  369  …  
1
this fraction to equal 3 ? How did you obtain this value?

W O R K I N G M AT H E M AT I C A L LY

Cyclic numbers
1
When you convert 7 to a decimal, you get the recurring decimal 0.142 857 142 857 ….
The repeating block of this decimal (142 857) is called a cyclic number because when it is
multiplied by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, the product contains the same 6 digits:
142 857  1  142 857
142 857  2  285 714
142 857  3  428 571
142 857  4  571 428
142 857  5  714 285
142 857  6  857 142
p Use your calculator to verify these products.
Note that not only do the products contain the same 6 digits, they also retain their order.

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Imagine the 6 digits written around a ring. Cutting the ring between 4
any pair of digits and then reading off the numbers clockwise, 1
starting from the cut, will give one of the products.
2
p What is the product of 142 857 and 7, the prime number used to 7
generate it?
8
Similar strings of 9s are produced when any cyclic number is 5

multiplied by the prime that generates it.

p Use your calculator to find these products as decimals:
1

7 1
1

7 2
1

7 3
1

7 4
1

7 5
1

7 6
p Compare your answers with the products given above. What do you notice?
All cyclic numbers are the repeating blocks of recurring decimals formed when simple
fractions with certain prime numbers as their denominators are changed to decimals. Cyclic
numbers always contain 1 less digit than the prime number used to generate them. The cyclic
number generated by 7 has 7  1  6 digits.
There are 9 prime numbers less than 100 that generate cyclic numbers: 7, 17, 19, 23, 29, 47,
59, 61 and 97. There is likely to be an infinite number of cyclic numbers, although this has
never been proven.
p Use a calculator to investigate the patterns formed by these other cyclic numbers,
1
especially 17. Since 17 has the 16-digit repeating block 058 823 529 411 764 7 (17 
0.058 823 529 411 764 7…), it will not be very useful to use the 10-digit display found on
most hand-held calculators. However, the calculator on a computer (see Programs →
Accessories → Calculator) allows you to use many more decimal places.

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 29
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Problem-solving steps and strategies

Follow these steps when solving a problem:
p Explore
Determine what information is given in the problem and what you need to find. Is all the
information available? Is there information that you will not need?
p Plan
Estimate what the answer should be. Select a
Problem-solving strategies
strategy to solve the problem. There may be
P Use a table.
several strategies or techniques you can try.
P Look for patterns.
p Solve
Solve the problem by carrying out your plan. P Simplify the problem.
If the plan does not work, you may need to try P Draw a diagram.
another one. P Guess and refine.
p Examine
Examine the answer. Does it fit the facts? Compare it with your estimate. If the answer is
not reasonable, make a new plan. You can also check the answer by solving the problem in
a different way.

Example
The committee for the school dance wants to cover the ceiling of the hall with

helium-filled balloons. The hall measures 20 m by 30 m. What is the least number of
balloons needed?

Explore
p What do we know?
n The hall dimensions are 20 m by 30 m.
n The entire ceiling is to be covered.
p What are we trying to find?
n We want the least number of balloons needed.
n First we need to find the space that each balloon covers.

Plan 30 m
p Estimate about 8000–10 000 balloons.
p Draw a diagram.
? rows 20 m
p We will need to work out how many
balloons there are in a row, and how many
rows we need.
? balloons in a row

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Solve
p Suppose that each balloon’s diameter is 25 cm.
Then 4 would fit across a metre, and 120 would fit across the length of the room.
There would need to be 4  20  80 rows.
Altogether this is 120  80  9600 balloons needed.

Examine
The calculation agrees with the estimate. We may need to order a few more balloons
to cover burst or lost balloons and so on. Then again, the committee might consider
this whole idea too extravagant.

P R O B L E M S O LV I N G 1

■
1 Patrice has dowel pieces measuring 20 cm and 22 cm. She places a number of pieces
end-to-end, forming a line 1 m 52 cm long. How many of each size does she use?

■
2 Nick walks once around the edge of a swimming pool that is 50 m long. If he walks a
total of 158 m, how wide is the pool?

■
3 Tim is replacing the ceiling tiles in the school hallway. The hallway is 30 m long and
2 m wide. Each tile measures 12 m by 12 m. How many tiles are needed?

■
4 A clockmaker is making gold digits for 5 imported clocks.
a How many digits does he need to make?
b How many of each digit does he need?

■
5 The city bus passes Maddie’s house every 20 minutes and the local bus passes every
1
 hour. The last time they passed together was 11:25 pm. What will be the next time
2
they pass together?

■
6 Geothermal energy is heat from inside Earth. It is estimated that underground
temperatures increase by 9°C for every 100 m closer to the centre. How far, in
kilometres, below Earth’s surface would you need to go for the temperature to
rise 108°C?

■
7 A DC-11 jumbo jet carries 342 passengers, with 36 in
first class and the rest in economy class. An economy
class ticket costs $345 and a first class ticket costs $695.
What will the total ticket sales be for a full flight?

■
8 The cost of a long-distance telephone call is $2.50 for
the first 5 minutes and 50c for each additional minute.
What is the cost for a half-hour call?

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 31
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literaacy skillsil
■
9 Will collects baseball cards. Each week he buys 20 cards and sells 45 of them. How many
cards will he have after 8 weeks?
■
10 Nadia was given 30 tablets by her doctor for a sore throat. She has to take 2 tablets with
every meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for the first 2 days, then 1 tablet with each
meal until they are all gone. If Nadia started taking the tablets with breakfast on
Thursday, when will she finish them?
■
11 Luke’s house number has 4 digits and is divisible by 3. The second digit is the square of
the first digit. The last 2 digits are the square of the second digit. What could Luke’s
house number be?
■
12 Ling is painting a border of stars along 3 walls in her room. The walls are 3.6 m, 3.3 m
and 2.7 m long. If each star is 0.25 m wide, how many stars will she need to paint?
■
13 Cindy has 5 different colours of ribbons. She uses 3 colours for each braid she is
making. How many different colour combinations for the braids are there?
■
14 Every tonne of recycled office paper saves about 18 trees. Pascal Press recycled 3400 kg
of paper in a year. How many trees did this save?

■
15 Each year the average person throws away about 10 times their adult weight in garbage.
Suppose an adult weighs 75 kg. How many tonnes of garbage will that person throw
away in a lifetime spanning 72 years?
■
16 1000 trees are planted in a straight line. Between the first and second trees, 1 post is
erected. Between the second and third trees, 2 posts are erected. Between the third and
fourth trees, 1 post is erected. This pattern of 1–2–1–2 posts is repeated up to the last
tree. How many posts are needed?

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Literacy
L
Li c
racy skills
kills
acy skillsil Literac y SKILLS 1

approximate significant figures estimation

about measurement round nearest
truncate compare express convert accurate
ratio rate recurring terminating

■
1 Write the number 0.040 20 and underline its significant figures. Explain why these
underlined digits are significant using the rules at the beginning of this chapter.
literacy

■
2 Complete each sentence, including the word in brackets in the sentence. The solution
for each one must be 44.8.
a Round off ____________________________________________ (nearest)
b Rewrite ______________________________________________ (significant)
c ________________________________________________ place. (approximate)

■
3 The difference between an estimate and a guess is modelled in this sentence:
A guess is an answer based on uncertain knowledge, whereas an estimate is an
approximation based on information you already have.
When comparing two terms like this, you must define them and then link them with a
word such as ‘whereas’, ‘but’ or ‘however’.
a Use this model to help you describe the difference between terminating and
recurring decimals.
b When using spreadsheets, ROUND(42.34,1) and TRUNC(42.34,1) give the same answer,
but ROUND(42.37,1) and TRUNC(42.37,1) give different answers. Explain why this
happens in each case, then use the word ‘however’ to compare these explanations.

■
4 Another way of writing the instruction ‘Express 4 L/min in litres per second (L/s)’ is
‘Change 4 L/min to litres per second (L/s).’
What other words can you use instead of ‘change’ or ‘express’?

■
5 ‘The door is about 2 m high.’
‘The door is about 2.1 m high.’
Which statement is more likely to be:
a an estimation? b an approximation?
Describe situations in which you would be likely to hear these two statements.

■
6 Complete the following procedure, which you and a friend could use to estimate the
height of a tall tree. The first step has been done for you.
Step 1 Tell your friend to stand next to the tree.

■
7 The volume of a rectangular prism with dimensions 2.3 m by 7.4 m by 8.15 m is
3
138.713 m . Explain why this is not a reasonable answer. Use the word ‘significant’
more than once in your explanation.

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Chapter review 1

■
1 How many significant figures are in each number?
a 780 b 0.78 c 4.123
d 0.09 e 0.080 60 f 304 000

■
2 There are 30 students in a class. Does this number have 1 or 2 significant figures?
Explain.

■
3 Round off to the nearest whole number:
a 367.5 b 86.158 c 9.099

■
4 Round off to the nearest hundred:
a 78 645 b 380 968

■
5 Samples of drinking water were tested and found to have 0.001 87 mg/L manganese.
Write this number to the nearest thousandth.

■
6 Without measuring, estimate the size of each angle:
a b

■
7 Without using a calculator, estimate:
2
a 347  45 b 120
 c 7.2
11.65 8.68  3.4
d  e 
7.3  2.4 8.68  3.4

■
8 The admission costs for a motor show are given.
Adults $15.50
Would $100 be enough to admit:
a 2 families and a senior? Children $9.50
b 5 adults and 3 children? Seniors $10.50
c 5 seniors and 4 children? Family $38.50

■
9 Given that one Australian dollar is valued at 68.82c US, approximately how many US
dollars could you obtain for $150 Australian? How could you arrive at this answer
without using a calculator?

■
10 Choose the best estimate for the height of a chimpanzee:
A 13 cm B 130 cm C 1300 cm D 13 000 cm

■
11 Choose the best estimate for the weight of a chimpanzee:
A 70 g B 700 g C 70 kg D 700 kg

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■
12 A tree casts a shadow 12.5 m long when the sun’s rays make a
55° angle with the ground. Lisa used this information to
calculate the height of the tree as 17.851 85 m.
a Comment on the level of accuracy of her calculation.
b What is a reasonable estimate for the height of the tree?

■
13 There are about 5 million red blood cells in each microlitre of
blood. How many red blood cells would there be in each 55°
millilitre? 12.5 m

■
14 Write as decimals:
7 50
a  b 
12 99

■
15 Evaluate correct to 2 decimal places (using your calculator):
4
93.5
  3.6
a 
3 b
1

3 1
 34
23
1067 
365 7.2

■
3
16 A bank offers an interest rate of 34% pa. Express this as a monthly rate correct to
4 significant figures.

■
17 A council charges 0.283% pa on the land value of a property. Calculate the amount
due on a property worth $250 000.

■
18 The number 57.8 is rounded to 58 (correct to the nearest whole number) but
is truncated to 57 (as a whole number). Explain the difference between rounding
and truncating.

■
19 Wendy estimated this calculation as shown:
16.7 16


2.1  3.7 24
16
 
8
2
a Which number(s) did she round?
b Which number(s) did she truncate?
c Suggest why she rounded and truncated to obtain an estimate.
d Use your calculator to find the answer correct to 3 significant figures.
e How does Wendy’s estimate compare with your calculation?

■
20 Write as fractions:
  
a 0.2 b 0.23 c 0.23

■
1
21 A plane flies at 620 km/h. How far will it fly in 32 h?

■
22 A car uses 64 L of petrol travelling 497 km. How much fuel does it use to travel 1 km?
(Answer correct to 2 decimal places.)

C H A P T E R 1 R AT I O N A L N U M B E R S 35
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■
23 Convert a car’s speed of 100 km/h to metres per second (m/s) correct to
1 decimal place.

■
24 Sound travels at 1430 m/s through water. Convert this speed to kilometres per hour
(km/h).

■
25 A computer printer’s brochure reads:
‘Prints at speeds of 22 ppm (pages per minute) black and 15 ppm colour.’
a How long would this printer take to print a 100 page document of which 35 pages
are full colour?
b Is this time exact? Why or why not?
 
0.13  0.5
   
■
26 Simplify:
0.4 6  0.2

■
27 NASA’s rover Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 and sent back pictures of the planet
across 169 million kilometres of space. Travelling at 300 000 km/s, how long (in minutes
and seconds) would it take the pictures to travel back to Earth?

■
28 The mass of a bucket full of water is 1465 g. When the bucket is half full, its mass is
932 g. Calculate the mass of the empty bucket.

■
29 a, b and m are integers where a b. For what values of m is:
a a  bm? b am  bm? c am bm?

■
30 The dimples on a golf ball allow it to travel faster. Describe a method you could use to
estimate how many dimples are on a golf ball (without counting them all).

36 C O N N E C T I O N S M A T H S 9 S T A G E 5.3 / 5.2 / 5.1