Can Percent Error Be a Negative Number?

The percentage of error may be negative. A positive percent mistake can sometimes be expected, however applications like chemistry commonly have negative percent errors.

In tests and calculations involving known numbers, percent error is helpful since it offers a way to check the precision of computations. It is easy to calculate percent error; simply subtract the experimental value from the actual value, divide by the actual value, then multiply the resulting product by 100 to get percent error.

When the % error is zero, the experimental value and the real, accepted value are identical. Since the difference between experimental and real findings is an absolute value, percent errors are frequently positive. This is a situation when identifying fault is crucial but the error’s direction is irrelevant. But in some circumstances, the direction of the deviation matters.

Negative percent error figures are maintained in chemistry and certain other sciences. For instance, a reaction between two chemicals may have a final yield that has already been reported.

Any scientist who conducts this reaction must make a report on its veracity. Knowing the error’s direction is also crucial. A reaction that had a positive percent mistake had a higher yield than was anticipated, while one that had a negative percent error had a lower yield.

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