Upper and lower bounds

Bob weighs himself as 80kg, correct to the nearest ten kg

What is the least he could actually weigh? And the most?

The least he could He could weigh anything The most he could

weigh is 75kg between 75 and 85kg weigh is 85kg

75 85
70 80 90

Dave draws an angle of 28o, correct to the nearest degree.

What is the smallest the angle could actually be? And the biggest?

The smallest is 27.5o The actual angle drawn The biggest is 28.5o
could be anything
between 27.5 and 28.5o

27.5 28.5
27 28 29
 Upper and lower bounds
The smallest value an approximation could actually be is called the lower bound
The largest value an approximation could actually be is called the upper bound

Eg a number is rounded to 5.3 (1 decimal place) Lower bound = 5.25

What are the upper and lower bounds? Upper bound = 5.35

5.25 5.35
1dp = nearest 10th 5.2 5.3 5.4

Eg a number is rounded to 400 (1 significant figure) Lower bound = 350

What are the upper and lower bounds? Upper bound = 450

350 450
1sf = nearest 100 300 400 500
 Upper and lower bounds
a) 80 (nearest ten) b) 2300 (nearest hundred)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

c) 35 (nearest five) d) 4 (nearest whole number)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

e) 700 (nearest ten) f) 2000 (nearest hundred)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

g) 4.7 (nearest tenth) h) 0.36 (nearest hundredth)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

 Upper and lower bounds
a) 80 (nearest ten) b) 2300 (nearest hundred)

70 75 80 85 90 2200 2250 2300 2350 2400

Lower bound = 75 Upper bound = 85 Lower bound = 2250 Upper bound = 2350
c) 35 (nearest five) d) 4 (nearest whole number)

30 32.5 35 37.5 40 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Lower bound = 32.5 Upper bound = 37.5 Lower bound = 3.5 Upper bound = 4.5
e) 700 (nearest ten) f) 2000 (nearest hundred)

690 695 700 705 710 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100

Lower bound = 695 Upper bound = 705 Lower bound = 1950 Upper bound = 2050
g) 4.7 (nearest tenth) h) 0.36 (nearest hundredth)

4.6 4.65 4.7 4.75 4.8 0.35 0.355 0.36 0.365 0.37

Lower bound = 4.65 Upper bound = 4.75 Lower bound = 0.355 Upper bound = 0.365
i) 7 (1 significant figure) j) 5.8 (1 decimal place)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

k) 30 (1significant figure) l) 610 (2 significant figures)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

m) 0.04 (1 significant figure) n) 0.84 (2 decimal places)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

o) 5.0 (1 decimal place) p) 70 (2 significant figures)

Lower bound = Upper bound = Lower bound = Upper bound =

i) 7 (1 significant figure) j) 5.8 (1 decimal place)

6 6.5 7 7.5 8 5.7 5.75 5.8 5.85 5.9

Lower bound = 6.5 Upper bound = 7.5 Lower bound = 5.75 Upper bound = 5.85
k) 30 (1significant figure) l) 610 (2 significant figures)

20 25 30 35 40 600 605 610 615 620

Lower bound = 25 Upper bound = 35 Lower bound = 605 Upper bound = 615
m) 0.04 (1 significant figure) n) 0.84 (2 decimal places)

0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 0.83 0.835 0.84 0.845 0.85

Lower bound = 0.035 Upper bound = 0.045 Lower bound = 0.835 Upper bound = 0.845
o) 5.0 (1 decimal place) p) 70 (2 significant figures)

4.9 4.95 5.0 5.05 5.1 69 69.5 70 70.5 71

Lower bound = 4.95 Upper bound = 5.05 Lower bound = 69.5 Upper bound = 70.5
 Upper and lower bounds
upper bound = upper bound = upper bound =

Top speed = 140mph Weight of African elephant Length of green Anaconda

(nearest 10) = 2700kg (2 significant figures) = 5m (1 significant figure)
lower bound = lower bound = lower bound =

upper bound = upper bound = upper bound =

Average UK salary Age of Earth = 4.5 billion years Volume of blood in human body
= £26500 (nearest 500) (2 significant figures) = 4.7 litres (1 decimal place)
lower bound = lower bound = lower bound =
 Upper and lower bounds
upper bound = 145 upper bound = 2750 upper bound = 5.5

Top speed = 140mph Weight of African elephant Length of green Anaconda

(nearest 10) = 2700kg (2 significant figures) = 5m (1 significant figure)
lower bound = 135 lower bound = 2650 lower bound = 4.5

upper bound = 26250 upper bound = 4.65 upper bound = 4.75

Average UK salary Age of Earth = 4.5 billion years Volume of blood in human body
= £26500 (nearest 500) (2 significant figures) = 4.7 litres (1 decimal place)
lower bound = 26750 lower bound = 4.55 lower bound = 4.65
 A rectangle is measured as 4cm by 3cm, both
measurements correct to 1 significant figure.

What sums would you do to

3cm find the upper and lower
(1sf) bounds of the perimeter and
the area of the rectangle?
4cm
(1sf)
Lower bound Upper bound
Perimeter 2  (2.5  3.5) 2  (3.5  4.5)
Area 2.5  3.5 3.5  4.5
 Complete the table
Lower Upper
calculation
bound bound

ab amin  bmin amax  bmax

a b amin  bmax amax  bmin
ab amin  bmin amax  bmax
a amin amax
b bmax bmin
 x  ab
Write down the sum needed to find
the smallest possible value of x if:

a = 6 (1sf) b = 2 (1sf)

5.5  1.5
 x  ab
Write down the sum needed to find
the largest possible value of x if:

a = 6 (1sf) b = 2 (1sf)

6.5  2.5
 x  a b
Write down the sum needed to find
the largest possible value of x if:

a = 3.7 (1dp) b = 0.8 (1dp)

3.75  0.75
 x  a b
Write down the sum needed to find
the smallest possible value of x if:

a = 3.7 (1dp) b = 0.8 (1dp)

3.65  0.85
 x  ab
Write down the sum needed to find
the largest possible value of x if:

a = 50 (2sf) b = 14 (2sf)

50.5  14.5
 x  ab
Write down the sum needed to find
the smallest possible value of x if:

a = 50 (2sf) b = 14 (2sf)

49.5  13.5
 a
x
b
Write down the sum needed to find
the smallest possible value of x if:

a = 15.0 (1dp) b = 2.82 (2dp)

14.95
2.825
 a
x
b
Write down the sum needed to find
the largest possible value of x if:

a = 15.0 (1dp) b = 2.82 (2dp)

15.05
2.815
 Upper and lower bounds of calculations
Complete the table. The first question has been done for you as an example.

Lower bound of Upper bound of

a Bounds of a b Bounds of b calculation
calculation calculation

Upper = 8.5 Upper = 3.5 amin  bmin amax  bmax

8 3
ab
(1sf) (1sf)
Lower = 7.5 Lower = 2.5  7.5  2.5  8.5  3.5

Upper = Upper =
4.2 3.8
(1dp) (1dp)
a b
Lower = Lower =

Upper = Upper =
35 1.7
(2sf) (2sf) ab
Lower = Lower =

Upper = Upper =
0.6 0.09 a
(1sf) (1sf) b
Lower = Lower =
 Upper and lower bounds of calculations
Complete the table. The first question has been done for you as an example.

Lower bound of Upper bound of

a Bounds of a b Bounds of b calculation
calculation calculation

Upper = 8.5 Upper = 3.5 amin  bmin amax  bmax

8 3
ab
(1sf) (1sf)
Lower = 7.5 Lower = 2.5  7.5  2.5  8.5  3.5

Upper = 4.25 Upper = 3.85 amin  bmax amax  bmin

4.2 3.8
(1dp) (1dp)
a b
Lower = 4.15 Lower = 3.75
 4.15  3.85  4.25  3.75

Upper = 35.5 Upper = 1.75 amin  bmin amax  bmax

35 1.7
(2sf) (2sf) ab
Lower = 34.5 Lower = 1.65  34.5  1.65  35.5  1.75

Upper = 0.65 Upper = 0.095 amin amax 0.65

0.6 0.09 a 0.55 
 bmin 0.085
(1sf) (1sf) b bmax 0.095
Lower = 0.55 Lower = 0.085