Absolute and Relative Error

Numerical Analysis · Axiom Academy

LESSON Absolute and Relative Error Two essential ways to measure approximation accuracy The absolute error is simply the magnitude of the difference between the true value and the approximation. Relative error expresses the error as a fraction of the true value—often more meaningful for comparing accuracies across different scales. Absolute error is appropriate when comparing values of similar magnitude. Relative error is better for comparing accuracy across different scales. The number of correct significant digits is closely related to relative error. Each significant digit represents roughly a factor of 10 in precision.

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