Relative Error Calculator

Your details

Choose which quantity to find. The other two become inputs.
The observed, approximated, or experimentally obtained value.
The accepted, theoretical, or reference value.
Percent errorAcceptable accuracy
2%

Relative error expressed as a percentage of the actual value

Absolute error0.2
Relative error (decimal)0.02
2 %
Excellent<1Acceptable1-5Moderate5-10High10-25Very high25+

Percent error: 2%

  • The absolute difference between your measured value (9.8) and the actual value (10) is 0.2.
  • A percent error of 2% is generally considered acceptable in most scientific and engineering contexts.
  • Your measured value is below the actual value (negative bias: -0.2).

Next stepRelative error tells you the size of the error relative to the reference, not its direction. For signed analysis, check whether your measurement is consistently high or low (bias), which points to systematic rather than random error.

 = Powered by OnlyCalculators