BRAINCAKEAbsolute and Percentage Uncertainty
A measurement is written as a value with an uncertainty, for example a wire diameter of 0.38 ± 0.01 mm. The true value is expected to lie in this range.
The absolute uncertainty is the ± value (0.01 mm here). It is written with the same units as the measurement.
The percentage uncertainty compares the absolute uncertainty with the size of the measurement:
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More in Measurements and Uncertainties
- Random and Systematic Errors
- Precision and Accuracy
- Combining Uncertainties
- Uncertainties from Repeated Readings
- Plotting Graphs
- Error Bars
- Best-fit and Worst-fit Lines
- Uncertainty in a Gradient and Intercept
All 12 lessons in Measurements and Uncertainties · All OCR AS-level Physics topics