Error and Propagation of Error

After completing this activity, students will be able to:

  • Differentiate between accuracy and precision.
  • Describe two main types of error in chemical analysis.
  • Express experimental error as either absolute or relative uncertainty.
  • Use the real rule of significant figures when expressing values that have an associated uncertainty.

Kate Mullaugh, College of Charleston (mullaughkm@cofc.edu)

About the Author

ASDL Contributor

Tom Wenzel

View contributions