Precision and Accuracy:

Errors in Measurements
Measurement

foundation for all experimental science

accuracy of measurement is prime

measurement of an object is based on some international standards which are

completely accurate compared with others

Every measurement carries a level of uncertainty which is known as an error

Measurement
An error may be defined as

the difference between the measured value and the actual value

Two terms that define the error –

true value and
measured value

The true value is impossible to find by experimental means.

It may be defined as the average value of an infinite number of measured values

The measured value is a single measuring of the object with the aim of being as
accurate as possible
Three types of errors –

Classified on the basis of the source… they arise from

Gross Errors - takes into account human oversight and other mistakes
while reading, recording, and taking readings.

For example, the person taking the reading from the meter
of the instrument he/she may read 23 as 28

to avoid - Proper care should be taken in reading, recording the data

By increasing the number of experimenters, we can reduce

the gross errors
Systematic Errors -

Instrumental Errors faulty construction and calibration of the measuring instruments

zero error is a very common type of error, either positive or negative

Environmental Errors due to the effect of the external conditions, includes temperature,
pressure, humidity etc.

Observational Errors due to an individual’s bias, lack of proper setting of the apparatus, or
an individual’s carelessness in taking observations, Parallax errors

Random Error occur irregularly and hence are random, unpredictable fluctuations
in temperature, voltage supply, mechanical vibrations of
experimental set-ups, etc
Accuracy And Precision Accuracy
the closeness of the measured value to a standard or true value

Accuracy of a system is classified into three types

Point Accuracy
accuracy of the instrument only at a particular point on its scale is known as point
accuracy, does not give any information about the general accuracy of the instrument

Accuracy as Percentage of Scale Range

uniform scale range determines the accuracy of a measurement: ±1% of full scale (200V),
so the reading will have an error of 1% of 200V = ±2V

Accuracy as Percentage of True Value

percentage of the measured value regarding their true value e.g. the accuracy of an
instrument is ±1% percent of the true value (20V) will have error = ±0.2V
 Accuracy And Precision Precision
The closeness of two or more measurements to each other is known as the precision

If you weigh a given object five times and get 3.2 kg each time, then your measurement is
very precise but not necessarily accurate. Precision is independent of accuracy.

Precision is sometimes separated into:

Repeatability
variation arising when the conditions are kept identical and repeated measurements are
taken during a short time period, by the same person or same instrument

Reproducibility
The variation arising using the same measurement process among different instruments
and operators, and over longer time periods, by many persons and similar other
equipment
Accuracy is the degree of closeness between a
measurement and the measurement’s true value.

Precision is the degree to which repeated measurements

under the same conditions are unchanged.
A good analogy for understanding Accuracy and Precision is to imagine a
football player shooting at the goal.
If the player shoots into the goal, he is said to be accurate.

But if that player keeps striking the goalpost every time, then he is precise but
not accurate.
Therefore, a player can be accurate without being precise.
A precise player will hit repeatedly, irrespective of if he scores or not.

A precise and accurate football player will not only aim at a single spot but also
score the goal.
The top left image shows the target
hit at high precision and accuracy.
The top right image shows the target
hit at a high accuracy but low
precision. The bottom left image
shows the target hit at a high
precision but low accuracy. The
bottom right image shows the target
hit at low accuracy and low
precision.
•If the weather temperature reads 28 °C outside and it is 28 °C
outside, then the measurement is said to be accurate. If the
thermometer continuously registers the same temperature for
several days then the measurement is also precise.

•If you take the measurement of the mass of a body of 20 kg and

you get 17.4,17,17.3 and 17.1, your weighing scale is precise but
not very accurate. If your scale gives you values of 19.8, 20.5,
21.0, and 19.6, it is more accurate than the first balance but not
very precise.
Practice Questions

Q1) The volume of a liquid is 26 mL. A student measures the volume and
finds it to be 26.2 mL, 26.1 mL, 25.9 mL, and 26.0 mL in the first,
second, third, and fourth trial, respectively. Which of the following
statements is true for his measurements?

a. They are neither precise nor accurate.

b. They have good accuracy.
c. They have good precision.
d. They have poor precision.

Answer: b. They have good accuracy.

Q2) The volume of a liquid is 20.5 mL. Which of the following sets of
measurement represents the value with good accuracy? And good
precision?
a. 18.6 mL, 17.8 mL, 19.6 mL, 17.2 mL
b. 19.2 mL, 19.3 mL, 19.2 mL, 19.4 mL
c. 18.9 mL, 19.0 mL, 19.2 mL, 18.8 mL
d. 20.2 mL, 20.5 mL, 20.3 mL, 20.1 mL

Answer:

d. 20.2 mL, 20.5 mL, 20.3 mL, 20.1 mL – Good accuracy

b. 19.2 mL, 19.3 mL, 19.2 mL, 19.4 mL – Good precision

Errors In Measurement - Absolute Error and Relative Error

Any measurement that you make is just an approximation, 100% accuracy is not
possible

difference between the two measurements is called a variation in the measurements

unwanted but unavoidable uncertainty in measurement is called –

the Errors in measurement

Error, unlike mistake, does not mean that you got the wrong values. It just means that the
measured values are NOT close to the true value

Errors in measurement are a mathematical way to show the uncertainty in the

measurement. It is the difference between the result of the measurement and the true
value of what you were measuring
Absolute and Relative Error are two important types of errors

Tolerance/ Margin of Error

Error in measurement may be represented by a tolerance (margin of error)

Tolerance refers to the greatest range of variation that can be allowed or

is acceptable and it is one half of the precision of an instrument. So to obtain
the range, we add and subtract one half of the precision of measuring
instruments.

For example, if a ruler has to measure an object of which has a length of

5.4 cm and it measures this with a precision of 0.1 cm. This gives a tolerance
interval in this measurement is 5.4 ± 0.05 cm, or from 5.35 cm to 5.45 cm.

Any measurements within this range are “tolerated” or perceived as correct.

Absolute Error
Absolute error in measurement refers to the actual amount of error in the
measurement:
Absolute Error can be represented by the expression:

Eabsolute = |xmeasured − xaccepted|

If you are measuring distances between cities that are kilometers apart, an error
of a few centimeters is negligible and is irrelevant.

On the other hand, an error of centimeters when measuring small machine parts
is a very significant error.

For example, if you know a length is 3.535 m + 0.004 m, then 0.004 m is an

absolute error. The absolute error is the difference between the measured value
and the actual value.
Relative Error

Relative error represents the ratio of the absolute error of the

measurement to the accepted measurement.

If the true measurement of the object is not known then the

relative error is found using the measured value.
Percentage Error

Errors in measurement may also be expressed in terms of percentage.

This is similar to relative error except that the error here is converted to a
percent value. The percentage error is found by multiplying the relative
error by 100%.
Significant Figures

“The significant figures of numbers are the digits which contributes to its
measurement resolution”.

The number 13.2 comprises three significant digits. Non-zero digits are
always significant. 3.14159 has 6 significant digits (all the numbers give
you useful information). Thus, 67 has 2 significant digits, and 67.3 has
three significant digits.
1000 has 1 significant digit - only the one is interesting;

you don’t know anything for sure about the units, tens and hundreds of
places; the zeroes may just be placeholders;

Similarly for decimals, 0.00069 has 2 significant digits (only the 6 and 9
tell us something; the other zeroes are placeholders, only providing
information about the relative size.
But this rule has an exception, as in the case of 0.000690 has 3
significant digits (that last zero tells us that the measurement was made
accurate to that last digit, which just happened to have a value of zero).

one thousand six (1006) has 4 significant digits (the one and six are
significant, and we have to count the zeroes because they’re between the
2 significant digits).
Application of Significant Figures

These examples can be incorporated into a list of rules for Significant Figures;

•All non-zero digits are significant: 4.321g has four significant figures.

•Zeroes between non-zero digits are significant: 1002 kg has 4 figures.

•Leading zeros to the left of the first non-zero digits are not significant;
Application of Significant Figures

•Trailing zeroes that are also to the right of a decimal point in a number are
significant:0.0260 mL has three significant figures.

•When a number ends in zeroes that are not to the right of a decimal point, the
zeroes are not necessarily significant: 140 kilometers maybe 2 or 3 significant
figures.
Reference Chapter(s)