Chapter 1, Problem 121AP

The medicinal thermometer commonly used in homes can be read to $\pm 0.1°\text{F}$. whereas those in the doctor's office may be accurate to $\pm 0.1°\text{C}$. Percent error is often expressed as the absolute value of the difference between the true value and the experimental value, divided by the true value:

$\text{percent error =}\frac{\left|\text{truevalue-experimentalvalue}\right|}{\text{true value}}\text{×100\%}$

The vertical lines indicate absolute value. In degrees Celsius, express the percent error expected from each of these thermometers in measuring a person's body temperature of $38.9°\text{C}$.