Question

1. a newspaper reporter wrote an article about the amount of a toxin found in a river near a factory. in the article, the reporter incorrectly used 0.25 as the decimal form of \\( \frac { 1 } { 4 } \\% \\).

a. what is the correct way to write \\( \frac { 1 } { 4 } \\% \\) as a decimal?
b. reasoning what was the reporters likely error?

Explanation:

Step1: Convert percentage to decimal

To convert a percentage to a decimal, we divide by \(100\). For \(\frac{1}{4}\%\), first write \(\frac{1}{4}\) as a decimal. \(\frac{1}{4}=0.25\). Then \(\frac{1}{4}\%=\frac{0.25}{100}\).

Step2: Calculate the value

\(\frac{0.25}{100}=0.25\div100 = 0.0025\).

Step3: Analyze reporter's error

The reporter likely just converted \(\frac{1}{4}\) to \(0.25\) and forgot to divide by \(100\) (since a percentage is per - 100).

Answer:

a. \(0.0025\)
b. The reporter converted \(\frac{1}{4}\) to \(0.25\) but forgot to divide by \(100\) (as percentage means per - 100).