In measurement, error is a single signed number: the indication minus the reference value, so a gauge reading 100.3 kPa against a standard at 100.0 kPa has an error of +0.3 kPa. It is not a mistake and it is not the same thing as uncertainty. Error can be estimated and corrected when a better reference is available, while uncertainty describes the doubt that remains after all known corrections have been made.
As-found error at full scale was minus 0.12 percent, inside the 0.25 percent tolerance, so no adjustment.
Outside the lab 'error' sounds like a blunder; in a cal report it is just a measured deviation, and a small one is good news.
Also heard as
- measurement error
Do not mix it up with
- Uncertainty: Error is one signed deviation from a reference; uncertainty is a range of doubt that has no sign.
Related terms
Uncertainty
A number that states how much doubt surrounds a measured value, as a standard deviation or as a stated interval.
Systematic error
Error component that pushes every repeat reading the same way, or follows a pattern you can predict and correct.
Random error
Error component that scatters readings up and down without pattern, so no two repeat readings agree exactly.
Correction
The amount added to a raw reading to cancel a known, repeatable error, equal to that error with its sign flipped.
Bias
The estimated systematic offset of a measuring system: its average reading minus the reference value.