BRAINCAKEResolution and Accuracy
Resolution is the smallest change in the quantity being measured that gives a perceptible change in the reading of an instrument. A metre rule marked in millimetres has a resolution of 1 mm, a digital voltmeter showing 3.46 V has a resolution of 0.01 V, and a micrometer has a resolution of 0.01 mm.
A finer resolution lets you detect smaller changes, but it does not guarantee a correct answer. Choose an instrument whose resolution is small compared with the quantity: a metre rule is fine for a 50 cm length, but for the 0.5 mm diameter of a wire a micrometer is used instead.
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More in Measurements and Errors
- Prefixes
- Converting Units
- Random and Systematic Errors
- Precision, Repeatability and Reproducibility
- Absolute, Fractional and Percentage Uncertainty
- Combining Uncertainties
- Uncertainties on Graphs
- Uncertainty in a Gradient
All 12 lessons in Measurements and Errors · All AQA AS-level Physics topics