Absolute error

Absolute Error is a concept in mathematics and statistics that quantifies the amount of inaccuracy or deviation from a specific standard or expected value. It is a measure of the difference between the actual or experimental value and the theoretical value or the exact value.

Definition

The absolute error of a measurement is the difference between the measured value and the actual value. It is often denoted by the Greek letter epsilon (ε). The formula for calculating absolute error is:

ε = |V_actual - V_measured|

where V_actual is the actual value and V_measured is the measured value.

Applications

Absolute error is used in various fields such as physics, engineering, and computer science to assess the accuracy of measurements and calculations. It is particularly useful in situations where the magnitude of the error is more important than the direction of the error.

Related Concepts

Absolute error is closely related to other error measurement concepts such as relative error, percentage error, and mean absolute error. While absolute error provides a direct measure of the error, relative error and percentage error provide a measure of the error relative to the size of the exact value. Mean absolute error, on the other hand, is a measure of the average of the absolute errors.

See Also

• Error analysis
• Measurement uncertainty
• Standard deviation
• Precision and accuracy

References

• MathWorld: Absolute Error
• Khan Academy: Absolute Error & Relative Error