Estimate

Someone has asked for a post on the following type of question.

Question
Estimate the value of 

272 x 47.7 
   0.531


In this question, you must simply do the following:
- round all the numbers to 1 significant figure
- do the calculation

Solution

272 = 300 (1 significant figure)
47.7 = 50 (1s.f.)
0.531 = 0.5 (1s.f.)

So the calculation you must do is    
300 x 50  = 15000  = 15000 x 2  = 30000
    0.5            0.5

Remember: dividing by 0.5 is the same as multiplying by 2


Top Tip: Don't rush into getting an answer. Read and understand what the question asks you to do. Here you need an estimate, not an exact answer.

MH