Science Key Words Flashcards
Define Accuracy.
A measurement result is considered accurate if it is judged to be close to the true value.
Define Calibration.
Marking a scale on a measuring instrument. This involves establishing the relationship between indications of a measuring instrument and standard or reference quantity values, which must be applied. For example, placing a thermometer in melting ice to see whether it reads zero, in order to check if it has been calibrated correctly.
Define
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Define Data.
Information, either qualitative or quantitive, that has been collected.
Define an anomaly.
These are values in a set of results which are judged to not be part of the variation caused by random uncertainty.
Define a measurement error.
The difference between a measured value and the true value.
Define a Random error.
These cause readings to be spread about the true value, due to results varying in an unpredictable way from one measurement to the next. Random errors are present when any measurement is made, and cannot be corrected.
Define a systematic error.
These cause readings to differ from the true value by a consistent amount each time a measurement is made.
Define a zero error.
Any indiction that a measurement gives a false reading when the true value of a measured quantity is zero.
Define evidence.
Data which has been shown to be valid.
Define a fair test.
A fair test is one in which only the independent variable has been allowed to affect the dependent variable.
Define a hypothesis.
A proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations.
Define an interval.
The quantity between readings.
Define precision.
Precise measurements are ones which there is very little spread about the mean value. Precision depends only on the extent of random error - it gives no indication of how close variables are to the true value.
