🎯Accuracy vs Precision📍
Accuracy and precision are often confused but describe different qualities of a measurement.
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🎯Accuracy
- ✓Closeness to the true or accepted value
- ✓Measures correctness
- ✓Improved by calibrating instruments
- ✓Affected by systematic error
- ✓Example: a reading near the real mass
📍Precision
- ✓How close repeated measurements are to each other
- ✓Measures consistency and repeatability
- ✓Improved by careful technique
- ✓Affected by random error
- ✓Example: five readings all very close together
Verdict
Accuracy is about being right; precision is about being consistent. A measurement can be precise but inaccurate, so good experiments aim for both.
Frequently asked
Can a result be precise but not accurate?+
Yes. Repeated readings can cluster tightly yet all be far from the true value.
What error reduces accuracy?+
Systematic error, such as an uncalibrated instrument, shifts results away from the true value.
How do I improve precision?+
By using careful, consistent technique to reduce random error between readings.
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