MEASUREMENT

• Measurement is
essential for us to
understand the external
world.
• Through this,  we have
developed a sense of
measurement.

YOUR POINT OF VIEW

ACCURACY
• The ability of an
instrument to measure
the accurate value
• the closeness of the
measured value to a
standard or true value
ACCURACY
• The accuracy of the
instrument only at a
particular point on its scale.

• The point accuracy does not

give any information about
the general accuracy of the
instrument.
POINT ACCURACY
 ACCURACY
• The uniform scale range
determines the accuracy of
a measurement. 

Accuracy as Percentage of Scale Range

 ACCURACY • Consider a thermometer
having the scale range up to
500ºC. The thermometer has
an accuracy of ±0.5 percent
of scale range i.e. 0.005 x
500 = ± 2.5 ºC. Therefore,
the reading will have a
maximum error of ± 2.5 ºC.

Accuracy as Percentage of Scale Range

ACCURACY • Such type of accuracy of the
instruments is determined
by identifying the measured
value regarding their true
value.

Accuracy as Percentage of True Value

ACCURACY • The accuracy of the
instruments is neglected up
to ±0.5 percent from the
true value.

Accuracy as Percentage of True Value

PRECISION
• The closeness of two or
more measurements to each
other is known as the
precision of a substance.
PRECISION
• If you weigh a given
substance five times and get
3.2 kg each time, then your
measurement is very precise
but not necessarily accurate.
• Precision is independent of
accuracy.
PRECISION • The variation arising when
the conditions are kept
identical and repeated
measurements are taken
during a short time period.

Repeatability
PRECISION • The variation arises using
the same measurement
process among different
instruments and operators,
and over longer time
periods.

Reproducibility
Difference between Accuracy and Precision
 Which set of hits is both accurate and precise?

Which set of hits is neither accurate nor precise?

Which set of hits is accurate but not precise?

Which set of hits is precise but not accurate?

1. The volume of a liquid is 26 mL. A student measures the volume and finds it to be
26.2 mL, 26.1 mL, 25.9 mL, and 26.3 mL in the first, second, third, and fourth trial,
respectively. Which of the following statements is true for his measurements?
a. They are neither precise nor accurate.
b. They have poor accuracy.
c. They have good precision.
d. They have poor precision.
 
2. The volume of a liquid is 20.5 mL. Which of the following sets
of measurement represents the value with good accuracy?
a. 18.6 mL, 17.8 mL, 19.6 mL, 17.2 mL
b. 19.2 mL, 19.3 mL, 18.8 mL, 18.6 mL
c. 18.9 mL, 19.0 mL, 19.2 mL, 18.8 mL
d. 20.2 mL, 20.5 mL, 20.3 mL, 20.1 mL
Gabriel Mouton
Assignment
• https://byjus.com/physics/errors-absolute-error-relative-error/
• https://byjus.com/physics/length-distance-measurement/
• Create an interactive game on measurement – accuracy and
precision.
• Cut 10 pieces of hexagon using a carton. Each side should have a
length of 6 inches.