Accuracy and Precision:

Accuracy refers to the closeness of a measured value to a standard or known value.

For example, if in lab you obtain a weight measurement of 3.2 kg for a given
substance, but the actual or known weight is 10 kg, then your measurement is not
accurate. In this case, your measurement is not close to the known value.

Precision refers to the closeness of two or more measurements to each other. Using
the example above, if you weigh a given substance five times, and get 3.2 kg each
time, then your measurement is very precise. Precision is independent of accuracy.
You can be very precise but inaccurate, as described above. You can also be
accurate but imprecise.

For example, if on average, your measurements for a given substance are close to
the known value, but the measurements are far from each other, then you have
accuracy without precision.

A good analogy for understanding accuracy and precision is to imagine a

basketball player shooting baskets. If the player shoots with accuracy, his aim will
always take the ball close to or into the basket. If the player shoots with precision,
his aim will always take the ball to the same location which may or may not be
close to the basket. A good player will be both accurate and precise by shooting the
ball the same way each time and each time making it in the basket.

Accuracy

Accuracy is how close a measured value is to the actual (true) value.

Precision

Precision is how close the measured values are to each other.

So, if you are playing soccer and you always hit the left goal post instead of
scoring, then you arenot accurate, but you are precise!

How to Remember?

 aCcurate is Correct (a bullseye).

 pRecise is Repeating (hitting the same spot, but maybe not the correct
spot)

Bias (don't let precision fool you!)

When we measure something several times and all values are close,
they may all be wrong if there is a "Bias"

Bias is a systematic (built-in) error which makes all measurements wrong by

a certain amount.

Examples of Bias

 The scales read "1 kg" when there is nothing on them

 You always measure your height wearing shoes with thick soles.
 A stopwatch that takes half a second to stop when clicked

In each case all measurements are wrong by the same amount. That is bias.

Degree of Accuracy
Accuracy depends on the instrument we are measuring with. But as a
general rule:

The degree of accuracy is half a unit each side of the unit of measure

Examples:

When an instrument measures in "1"s

any value between 6½ and 7½ is measured as "7"

When an instrument measures in "2"s

any value between 7 and 9 is measured as "8"

Errors in Measurement

Error?
No ... you didn't measure it wrong ... this is
about accuracy.

Measuring instruments are not exact!

Degree of Accuracy

Accuracy depends on the instrument you are measuring with. But as a

general rule:

The degree of accuracy is half a unit each side of the unit of measure
Examples:

When your instrument measures in "1"s

then any value between 6½ and 7½ is measured as "7"

When your instrument measures in "2"s

then any value between 7 and 9 is measured as "8"

Plus or Minus

We can show the error using the "Plus or Minus" sign: ±

When the value could be between 6½ and 7½

7 ±0.5

The error is ±0.5

When the value could be between 7 and 9

8 ±1

The error is ±1
Example: a fence is measured as 12.5 meters long, accurate to 0.1 of a meter

Accurate to 0.1 m means it could be up to 0.05 m either way:

Length = 12.5 ±0.05 m

So it could really be anywhere between 12.45 m and 12.55 m long.

Absolute, Relative and Percentage Error

The Absolute Error is the difference between
the actual and measured value

But ... when measuring we don't know the actual value! So we use
the maximum possible error.

In the example above the Absolute Error is 0.05 m

What happened to the ± ... ? Well, we just want the size

(the absolute value ) of the difference.

The Relative Error is the Absolute Error divided by the actual

measurement.

We don't know the actual measurement, so the best we can do is

use themeasured value:

Absolute Error
Relative Error =
Measured Value
The Percentage Error is the Relative Error shown as a percentage
(seePercentage Error).

Let us see them in an example:

Example: fence (continued)

Length = 12.5 ±0.05 m

So:

Absolute Error = 0.05 m

And:

0.05 m
Relative Error = = 0.004
12.5 m

And:

Percentage Error = 0.4%

More examples:
Example: The thermometer measures to the nearest 2 degrees. The
temperature was measured as 38° C

The temperature could be up to 1° either side of 38° (i.e. between 37° and
39°)

Temperature = 38 ±1°

So:

Absolute Error = 1°

And:

1°
Relative Error = = 0.0263...
38°

And:

Percentage Error = 2.63...%

Example: You measure the plant to be 80 cm high (to the nearest cm)

This means you could be up to 0.5 cm wrong (the plant could be between
79.5 and 80.5 cm high)

Height = 80 ±0.5 cm

So:

Absolute Error = 0.5 cm

And:
 0.5 cm
Relative Error = = 0.00625
80 cm

And:

Percentage Error = 0.625%

Area

When working out areas you need to think about both the width and length
... they could both be the smallest possible measure, or both the largest.

Example: Alex measured the field to the nearest meter, and got a width of 6 m
and a length of 8 m.

Measuring to the nearest meter means the true value could be up to half a
metersmaller or larger.

The width (w) could be from 5.5m to 6.5m:

5.5 ≤ w < 6.5

The length (l) could be from 7.5m to 8.5m:

7.5 ≤ l < 8.5

The area is width × length:

A=w×l
The smallest possible area is: 5.5m × 7.5m = 41.25 m2
The measured area is: 6m × 8m = 48 m2
And the largest possible area is: 6.5m × 8.5m = 55.25 m2

41.25 ≤ A < 55.25

Absolute, Relative and Percentage Error for Areas

The only tricky thing here is ... which is the absolute error?

 From 41.25 to 48 = 6.75

 From 48 to 55.25 = 7.25

Answer: pick the biggest one! So:

Absolute Error = 7.25 m2

7.25 m2
Relative Error = = 0.151...
2
48 m

Percentage Error = 15.1%

(Which is not very accurate, is it?)

Volume

And volume has three measurements: width, length and height!

Example: Sam measured the box to the nearest 2 cm, and got 24 cm × 24 cm ×
20 cm

Measuring to the nearest 2 cm means the true value could be up to 1

cm smaller or larger.

The three measurements are:

 24 ±1 cm
 24 ±1 cm
 20 ±1 cm

Volume is width × length × height:

V=w×l×h

The smallest possible Volume is: 23cm × 23cm × 19cm = 10051 cm3
The measured Volume is: 24cm × 24cm × 20cm = 11520 cm3
The largest possible Volume is: 25cm × 25cm × 21cm = 13125 cm3

And so we get:

10051 ≤ V < 13125

Absolute, Relative and Percentage Error for Volumes

Absolute error:

 From 10051 to 11520 = 1469

 From 11520 to 13125 = 1605

Pick the biggest one:

Absolute Error = 1605 cm3

1605 cm3
Relative Error = = 0.139...
11520 cm3

Percentage Error = 13.9%