other question #3620

Raymond J. Sucgang, a 32 year old male from Manila, Philippines asks on September 15, 2006,

Q:

Hi, Could you please clarify: Does an increase in precision mean a decrease in accuracy? Does a high degree of accuracy mean lower precision? What is the relationship between accuracy and precision?
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the answer

Barry Shell answered on September 19, 2006, A:

An increase in precision does not imply a decrease in accuracy. A high degree of accuracy does not result in lower precision. The two are not related that way. Accuracy refers to how closely a measured value agrees with the correct value. Precision refers to how closely individual measurements agree with each other. A good explanation of this can be found at Texas A&M's first year chemistry page.

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