NBT Quantitative Literacy: Measurement and Estimation — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A piece of fabric is 3.5 m long. A seamstress needs to cut it into strips that are each 25 cm long. How many complete strips can she cut?
- 12
- 13
- 14 (Correct answer)
- 15
Correct answer: 14
First convert 3.5 m to centimetres: 3.5 × 100 = 350 cm. Then divide: 350 ÷ 25 = 14 complete strips.
Question 2: On a map drawn to a scale of 1 : 250 000, two towns are 8 cm apart. What is the actual distance between them in kilometres?
- 2 km
- 8 km
- 20 km (Correct answer)
- 200 km
Correct answer: 20 km
Actual distance = map distance × scale factor = 8 cm × 250 000 = 2 000 000 cm. Convert to km: 2 000 000 ÷ 100 000 = 20 km.
Question 3: A rectangular water tank measures 2 m long × 1.5 m wide × 0.8 m high. How many litres does the tank hold when completely full? (1 m³ = 1 000 litres)
- 240 litres
- 2 400 litres (Correct answer)
- 24 000 litres
- 4.3 litres
Correct answer: 2 400 litres
Volume = length × width × height = 2 × 1.5 × 0.8 = 2.4 m³. Convert: 2.4 × 1 000 = 2 400 litres.
Question 4: A student wants to estimate the cost of tiling a bathroom floor. The floor is approximately 3 m × 2.5 m. Tiles cost R85 per m². About how much will the tiles cost?
- About R420
- About R640 (Correct answer)
- About R850
- About R1 100
Correct answer: About R640
Area = 3 × 2.5 = 7.5 m². Cost = 7.5 × R85 = R637.50, which rounds to about R640. This is a real-world estimation that requires multiplying area by a rate per unit area.
Question 5: A cyclist travels 45 km at an average speed of 18 km/h. How long does the journey take?
- 2 hours
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- 2 hours 30 minutes (Correct answer)
- 3 hours
Correct answer: 2 hours 30 minutes
Time = Distance ÷ Speed = 45 ÷ 18 = 2.5 hours = 2 hours 30 minutes. Remember that 0.5 hours = 30 minutes.
Question 6: A water bottle holds 750 mL. A bathtub holds approximately 150 litres. How many full water bottles would be needed to fill the bathtub?
- 20 bottles
- 50 bottles
- 100 bottles
- 200 bottles (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 200 bottles
Convert 150 litres to mL: 150 × 1 000 = 150 000 mL. Divide: 150 000 ÷ 750 = 200 bottles. The key step is converting to the same unit before dividing.
NBT Quantitative Literacy: Measurement and Estimation
A piece of fabric is 3.5 m long.
A seamstress needs to cut it into strips that are each 25 cm long.
How many complete strips can she cut?