General Physics 1

Chapter 1: Precision and Accuracy

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to

1. Differentiate accuracy and precision

2. Obtain an accurate and precise measurement.
3. Point out possible sources of errors in a measurement

LEARNING RESOURCES:
Makalintal, N., M. Dinglasan, and J. Unday. 2017. General Physics 1. Malabon City, Philippines:
Mutya Publishing House, Inc. pp 55-65.

SESSION:
July 1, 2019

I. INTRODUCTION
1. Present learning outcomes to students and have a short review on methods of
separating mixtures and discuss the assignment.
2. Scientific knowledge is advanced through studies that demand high levels of
mathematical rigor. These studies should be precise and accurate in measuring
quantities. Precision and accuracy ensures their reliability. For this lesson, we will
know the difference between accuracy and precision and the source of errors in
measurements.

II. MOTIVATION
Present a picture of a dart and ask which among those picture shows accuracy and
which shows precision.
III. INSTRUCTION
Accuracy and precision are two important factors to consider when taking data
measurements. Both accuracy and precision reflect how close a measurement is to an actual
value, but accuracy reflects how close a measurement is to a known or accepted value,
while precision reflects how reproducible measurements are, even if they are far from the
accepted value.

• Accuracy is how close a value is to its true value. An example would be how close an
arrow gets to the bullseye center. According to ISO, accuracy refers to a measurement with
both true and consistent results. The ISO definition means an accurate measurement has no
systematic error and no random error. Essentially, the ISO advises the term accurate be
used when a measurement is both accurate and precise.

• Precision is how repeatable a measurement is. An example would be how close a

second arrow is to the first one (regardless of whether either is near the mark). Precise
values differ from each other because of random error, which is a form of observational
error. 

An easy way to remember the difference between accuracy and precision is:

 ACcurate is Correct. (or Close to real value)

 PRecise is Repeating. (or Repeatable)

Bias (don't let precision fool you!)

When we measure something several times and all values are close,
they may all be wrong if there is a "Bias"

Bias is a systematic (built-in) error which makes all measurements wrong by a

certain amount.

Examples of Bias

 The scales read "1 kg" when there is nothing on them

  You always measure your height wearing shoes with thick soles.
 A stopwatch that takes half a second to stop when clicked

In each case all measurements are wrong by the same amount. That is bias.

Degree of Accuracy

Degree of Accuracy is how precise a measurement is, often shown as the

number of decimal places or significant digits.

Accuracy depends on the instrument we are measuring with. But as a general

rule: The degree of accuracy is half a unit each side of the unit of measure

Examples:

(Notice that the arrow points to the same spot, but the measured values are different!
Read more at  Errors in Measurement . )

  We should show final values that match the accuracy of our least accurate value used.

Percent Error
It is used to assess whether sufficiently accurate and precise.
Absolute, Relative and Percentage Error
The Absolute Error is the difference between the actual and measured value.

But ... when measuring we don't know the actual value! So we use the
maximum possible error.

The Relative Error is the Absolute Error divided by the actual measurement.

 We don't know the actual measurement, so the best we can do is use
the measured value:

Relative Error =  Absolute Error/Measured Value

The Percentage Error is the Relative Error multiplied by 100.

IV. PRACTICE & EVALUATION

A. Indicate whether the following measurements are accurate and precise, accurate but
not precise, precise but not accurate or neither accurate nor precise. The center of the
dartboard is the standard value

B. Given the following standard values (SV), list at least 2 sets with 4 values each to
represent what is asked for each number.
1. SV=105: accurate and precise
2. SV= 75.85: Accurate but not precise
3. SV= 10089:not accurate but precise
4. SV=12.90: not accurate not precise
5. SV=1621: accurate and precise
VII. ENRICHMENT
1. Are measurements valid and reliable if they precise but not accurate? If they are
accurate but not precise? Explain.

Prepared by:

Ruby B. Cocal, LPT