A set of 250-g masses is placed one at a time on a digital balance during quality control testing. The mass reading are 197 g, 198 g, 196 g. Describe the accuracy and precision of the scale. (1 point)

1 answer

To evaluate the accuracy and precision of the scale based on the provided mass readings (197 g, 198 g, 196 g), we can analyze both concepts:

Accuracy: This refers to how close the measured values are to the true value (in this case, the true mass of the object being measured, which is 250 g). The readings of 197 g, 198 g, and 196 g are all significantly lower than the true mass, indicating that the scale is not accurately measuring the mass.

Precision: This refers to the consistency of the measured values. In this scenario, the readings of 197 g, 198 g, and 196 g are very close to each other, suggesting that the scale is precise, as the measurements do not vary widely from one another.

In summary, the scale shows good precision (the readings are close to each other), but poor accuracy (the readings are far from the true mass of 250 g).