BRAINCAKEErrors vs Mistakes
In practical chemistry the words error and mistake mean different things, and exam questions expect you to keep them separate.
An error is the difference between a measured value and the true value. Every measurement has some error, even when the experiment is done perfectly, because of the limitations of the apparatus and the method. A balance can only display a certain number of decimal places, a burette scale has to be judged by eye, and some heat always escapes from a calorimeter. Errors can be estimated and reduced, but never removed completely.
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More in Errors and Uncertainties
- Accuracy and Precision
- Random Errors and Systematic Errors
- Uncertainty
- Percentage Uncertainty
- Adding Uncertainties
- Adding Percentage Uncertainties
- Minimising Errors and Uncertainties
- Percentage Yield
All 14 lessons in Errors and Uncertainties · All Edexcel AS-level Chemistry topics