Difference between relative and percentage error

General
1

difference between relative and percentage error

2

Difference between relative and percentage error

Answer:

Relative error and percentage error are both measures of the accuracy of a measurement, but they are calculated differently and have different units.

Percentage error is a measure of the difference between the measured value and the true value expressed as a percentage of the true value. It is calculated using the following formula:

Percentage error = (Measured value - True value) / True value x 100%

For example, if you measure the length of a table to be 90 cm, but the true length is 100 cm, the percentage error would be:

(90 cm - 100 cm) / 100 cm x 100% = -10%

This means that your measurement is 10% less than the true value.

Relative error, on the other hand, is a measure of the difference between the measured value and the true value expressed as a fraction or ratio of the true value. It is calculated using the following formula:

Relative error = (Measured value - True value) / True value

Using the same example as before, the relative error would be:

(90 cm - 100 cm) / 100 cm = -0.1

This means that your measurement is 0.1 times less than the true value.

So, in summary, the main difference between percentage error and relative error is that percentage error is expressed as a percentage of the true value, while relative error is expressed as a fraction or ratio of the true value.