Errors in chemical analysis

What is an error

“Error” in Chemistry is defined as the difference between the true result (or accepted true
result) and the measured result. If the error in the analysis is large, serious consequences may
result. As reliability, reproducibility, and accuracy are the basis of analytical chemistry.

Types of error

 Human Error: Inaccuracies or mistakes by a person undertaking an experiment

could be the cause of some errors. The types of human error are limitless and could
include things like incorrect reading of gauges, miscalculating when diluting
ingredients or similar calculations, and spillage when handling chemicals during
transfer or following the wrong instructions for the experiment. Depending on what
type of mistake is made and where in the process it happens will have a significant
impact on the magnitude of its influence on the final solution. Human error can be
minimized or eliminated by careful attention to procedures and techniques.
 Calibration Error: Inaccurate calibration of instruments can lead to errors in
chemical experiments. Calibration is the process of adjusting or checking an
instrument according to the manufacturer's instructions to ensure that the instrument
gives accurate and reproducible readings. Ideally, instruments should be calibrated
regularly or even every time they are used so that they do not produce errors. Some
instruments or equipment will be more prone to error than others and the chemist
should assess each instrument's requirement.
 Estimated Measurement Error: Estimating a measurement could lead to the
production of an error. Some estimations are hard to eliminate. When filling a beaker
with water to a specific volume there is potential to be either marginally over the mark
or marginally under the mark but the chemist will estimate when they think it is spot
on the mark. In an experiment that involves a color change the moment of change
will be estimated by different people at different shades of color depending on their
eyesight.
 Measurement Device Limitation Error: The limitations of lab equipment in a lab
used to measure parameters will be a potential source of error. Every instrument or
device, no matter how accurate, will have limitations on accuracy associated with it.
For example, a measuring flask may be provided by the manufacturer with a built-in
accuracy of plus/minus 1 to 5 percent. Using this measuring flask to make
measurements in a lab, therefore, introduces an error of up to 5 percent in any
volume measurement
Accuracy and precision
Measurements require tools that provide scientists with a quantity. The problem here
is that the result of every measurement by any measuring instrument contains some
uncertainty. This uncertainty is referred to as an error. Accuracy and precision are
two important factors to consider while taking measurements. Both these terms
reflect how close a measurement is to a known or accepted value. In this article, let
us learn in detail about precision and accuracy.

Accuracy
The ability of an instrument to measure the accurate value is known as accuracy. In
other words, it is the the closeness of the measured value to a standard or
true value. Accuracy is obtained by taking small readings. The small reading
reduces the error of the calculation. The accuracy of the system is classified into
three types as follows:
 Point Accuracy
The accuracy of the instrument only at a particular point on its scale is known as
point accuracy. It is important to note that this accuracy does not give any
information about the general accuracy of the instrument.
 Accuracy as Percentage of Scale Range
The uniform scale range determines the accuracy of a measurement. This can be
better understood with the help of the following example:
Consider a thermometer having the scale range up to 500 ºC. 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 True Value
Such type of accuracy of the instruments is determined by identifying the measured
value regarding their true value. The accuracy of the instruments is neglected up to
±0.5 percent from the true value.

Precision
The closeness of two or more measurements to each other is known as the precision
of a substance. 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. The below examples will tell you about how you can be
precise but not accurate and vice versa. Precision is sometimes separated into:

o
 Repeatability
The variation arising when the conditions are kept identical and repeated
measurements are taken during a short time period.

o
 Reproducibility
The variation arises using the same measurement process among different
instruments and operators, and over longer time periods.
Conclusion
Accuracy is the degree of closeness between a measurement and its true value.
Precision is the degree to which repeated measurements under the same conditions
show the same results.
Since you are here, you might want to check out the following articles:
 Errors in Measurement
 Measurement of length

Accuracy and Precision Examples

A good analogy for understanding accuracy and precision is to imagine a football
player shooting at the goal. If the player shoots into the goal, he is said to be
accurate. A football player who keeps striking the same goalpost is precise but not
accurate. Therefore, a football player can be accurate without being precise if he hits
the ball all over the place but still scores. A precise player will hit the ball to the
same spot repeatedly, irrespective of whether he scores or not. A precise and
accurate football player will not only aim at a single spot but also score the goal.
The top left image shows the target hit at high precision and accuracy. The
top right image shows the target hit at a high accuracy but low precision.
The bottom left image shows the target hit at a high precision but low
accuracy. The bottom right image shows the target hit at low accuracy and
low precision.

More Examples
 If the weather temperature reads 28 °C outside and it is 28 °C outside, then
the measurement is said to be accurate. If the thermometer continuously
registers the same temperature for several days, the measurement is also
precise.
 If you take the measurement of the mass of a body of 20 kg and you get
17.4,17,17.3 and 17.1, your weighing scale is precise but not very accurate. If
your scale gives you values of 19.8, 20.5, 21.0, and 19.6, it is more accurate
than the first balance but not very precise.

Difference Between Accuracy and Precision

In the previous few sections having discussed what each term means, let us now
look at their differences.

Accuracy Precision

Precision implies the

Accuracy refers to the level
level of variation that lies
of agreement between the
in the values of several
actual measurement and the
measurements of the
absolute measurement.
same factor.

Represents how closely the Represents how closely

results agree with the results agree with one
standard value. another.

Multiple measurements
Single-factor or or factors are needed to
measurement are needed. comment about
precision.

It is possible for a
Results can be precise
measurement to be
without being accurate.
accurate on occasion as a
Alternatively, the results
fluke. For a measurement to
can be precise and
be consistently accurate, it
accurate.
should also be precise.
Absolute and Relative Error

Define Absolute Error

Absolute error is defined as the difference between the actual value and the measured value of a
quantity. The importance of absolute error depends on the quantity that we are measuring. If the
quantity is large such as road distance, a small error in centimetres is negligible. While measuring the
length of a machine part an error in centimetre is considerable. Though the errors in both cases are
in centimetres, the error in the second case is more important.

Absolute Error Formula

The absolute error is calculated by the subtraction of the actual value and the measured value of a
quantity. If the actual value is x₀ and the measured value is x, the absolute error is expressed as,∆x =
x₀- xHere, ∆x is the absolute error.

Absolute Error Example

Here, we are giving an example of the absolute error in real life. Suppose, we are measuring the
length of an eraser. The actual length is 35 mm and the measured length is 34.13 mm. So, The
Absolute Error = Actual Length - Measured Length = (35 - 34.13) mm = 0.87 mm

Classification Of Absolute Error

Absolute accuracy errorAbsolute accuracy error is the other name of absolute error. The formula for
absolute accuracy error is written as E= E exp – E true, where E is the absolute accuracy error, E exp
is the experimental value and E true is the actual [Link] absolute errorMAE or the mean
absolute error is the mean or average of all absolute errors. The formula for Mean Absolute Error is
given as,MAE = 1n1n\frac{1}{n} ∑i=1n∣xi−x∣∑i=1n∣xi−x∣\sum_{i=1}^{n}\mid x_{i} -x\mid Absolute
Precision ErrorIt is a standard deviation of a group of numbers. Standard deviation helps to know
how much data is [Link] Error DefinitionThe ratio of absolute error of the measurement
and the actual value is called relative error. By calculating the relative error, we can have an idea of
how good the measurement is compared to the actual size. From the relative error, we can
determine the magnitude of absolute error. If the actual value is not available, the relative error can
be calculated in terms of the measured value of the quantity. The relative error is dimensionless and
it has no unit. It is written in percentage by multiplying it by [Link] Error FormulaThe relative
error is calculated by the ratio of absolute error and the actual value of the quantity. If the absolute
error of the measurement is ∆x, the actual value is x0, the measured value is x, the relative error is
expressed as, xᵣ = (x₀ - x)/ x₀ = ∆x/x₀Here, xr is the relative
[Link] Error ExampleHere, we are giving an example of relative error in real life. Suppose, the
actual length of an eraser is 35 mm. Now, the absolute error = (35-34.13) mm = 0.87 [Link], the
relative error = absolute error/actual length= 0.87/35= 0.02485(Image will be Uploaded
Soon)Relative Error as a Measure of AccuracyIn many cases, relative error is a measure of precision.
At the same time, it can also be used as a measure of accuracy. Accuracy is the extent of knowing
how accurate the value is as compared to the actual or true value. Students can find the RE accuracy
only if they know the true value or measurement. For simplicity, we have the formula for calculating
the RE accuracy which is given asREaccuracyaccuracy_{accuracy} = Actual error/ true value *
100%Absolute Error and Relative Error in Numerical AnalysisNumerical analysis of error calculation is
a vital part of the measurement. This analysis finds the actual value and the error quantity. The
absolute error determines how good or bad the measurement is. In numerical calculation, the errors
are caused by round-off error or truncation [Link] and Relative Error Calculation -
Examples1. Find the absolute and relative errors. The actual value is 125.68 mm and the measured
value is 119.66 [Link]:Absolute Error = |125.68 – 119.66| mm= 6.02 mmRelative Error = |
125.68 – 119.66| / 125.68= 0.04782. Find out the absolute and relative errors, where the actual and
measured values are 252.14 mm and 249.02 [Link]:Absolute Error = |252.14 – 249.02|
mm = 3.12 mmRelatives Error = 3.12/252.14= 0.0123Did You Know?In different
measurements, the quantity is measured more than one time to get an average value of the
quantity. Mean absolute error is one of the most important terms in this kind of measurement. The
average of all the absolute errors of the collected data is called the MAE ( Mean Absolute Error). It is
calculated by dividing the sum of absolute errors by the number of errors. The formula of MAE is –
MAE = ∑i=1n∣x0−x∣n∑i=1n∣x0−x∣n\frac{\displaystyle\sum\limits_{i=1}^n \mid x_{0}-x \mid }{n}Here, n
is the number of errors, x₀ is the actual value, x is the measured value, and |x₀-x| is the absolute
error.

 Absolute Error
The actual amount of error during a measurement is referred
to as absolute error. It helps us to understand the amount of
error that is being measured.

The mathematical expression of absolute error is Absolute E =

|Measured value - True value|

Example: The length of an instrument is 4.576 m

±±
±±
0.007 m. Then the absolute error is 0.007 m.

Did You Know?

Absolute error fails to convey the importance of the error and is thus
often considered inadequate.

Suppose, if someone wishes to measure the distance between two

cities. In this case, an error of a few centimetres would not have a
massive effect on the actual value of the measurement. However,
an error of a few centimetres while measuring the length of a small
machine part is quite significant. Hence the severity of an error in
the second situation is much more than in the first one.

There is an absolute error which is the magnitude of the difference

between the mean value and each measured value.

As an Example:
We measured the diameter of three wires using screw gauges and
found that they were 1.002 cm, 1.004 cm, and 1.006 cm. We will
have an absolute error of:
A solution is:
The mean is 1.02 + 1.004, plus 1.06, equalling 1.04 cm
As a result, absolute errors are
Δa =|1.002−1.004| =0.002cm
1

Δa =|1.004−1.004 |=0.000cm
2

Δa =|1.006−1.004 |=0.002cm
3

 Relative Error
The ratio of the absolute error to the accepted measurement is
termed the relative error of measurement. The relative error
gives us the magnitude of the absolute error in terms of the
actual measurement of the object. The measured value is
often used when the actual measurement of the object is not
known for computing relative error. This way we can determine
the magnitude of the absolute error in terms of the actual size
of the measurement. If the true measurement of the object is
not known then the relative error is found using the measured
value.

The mathematical expression of relative error is:

Relative Error = Absolute Error/Actual value

Thus Relative Error = | measured value - actual value | / actual

value