The following website has a large number of clocks that update every second to show the estimated national debt and federal budget deficit of the United States (in the upper left corner, hightlighted in the picture below) along with numerous other financial measures. (www.usdebtclock.org). At 9:28 a.m. (pacific time) on June 6, 2014, the clock showed the following values.
Estimated from Website | Rounded Number (round to the place value indicated) | Name of Rounded Number | |
---|---|---|---|
US National Debt | 17,522,632,308,359 | 18,000,000,000,000 (round to nearest trillion) |
18 trillion |
US Federal Budget Deficit | 608,856,498,061 | 609,000,000,000 (round to nearest billion) |
609 billion |
- Go to the debt clock website. Record the current estimates. Complete the table as indicated.
Estimated from Website Rounded Number
(round to the place value indicated)Name of Rounded Number US National Debt
(round to nearest trillion)US Federal Budget Deficit
(round to nearest billion)
- Wait at least a few seconds and go back to the debt clock. Record the new values.
Estimated from Website Rounded Number
(round to the place value indicated)Name of Rounded Number US National Debt
(round to nearest trillion)US Federal Budget Deficit
(round to nearest billion)
- Did the estimated values change?
- Did the rounded numbers change?
- If you were making a calculation based on these values, would you use the un-rounded values or the rounded number? Be prepared to justify your answer.