Precision - Meaning, Important Reminders, Accuracy and Precision Difference

Without measures, our day-to-day activities would be incomplete. Measurements necessitate the use of tools, both traditional and unorthodox, and different individuals may obtain different findings from the same instrument. As a result, measurements of a value can be either exact or accurate. The accuracy of any measured value relates to how near it is to the real value. Precision refers to how closely the different measured values are related.

About Precision

The proximity of a value to its real value, such as the closeness of an arrow to the bull's eye in the center, is characterized as accuracy. That's the bull's eye: accurate is correct. The repeatability of the values of a measurement, such as the proximity of additional arrows to the first, is characterized as precise. Precise means striking the same area over and over, although that spot may not be the exact one.

Let's look at some examples to understand this better. 3.1459265359 is the value of pi. Now, 3.14 is a number that is used to symbolize the value of pi. It is not exact, but it is near. No other three-digit number comes close to the objective.

Out-of-the-Box Thinking!

In the following situations, determine if the measurements are accurate or precise:

• When, neither the bull's eye nor the darts are near one other.
• When all of the darts land close together yet far away from the target.
• When the darts land close together and near to the bull's eye.

Important Reminders

Let's have a look at some key points about accurate versus precise:

• The accuracy of a value refers to how near it is to its true/actual value.
• Precision is defined as the consistency or repeatability of values.
• The accuracy or precision of a measurement value is measured using percent error (the ratio of the error to the actual value multiplied by 100).