What is precision in chemistry?

1 Answer
Mar 20, 2014

Precision is how close your answers are to each other, regardless of how "correct" they are.

Imagine a big Bulls-eye target.

If you don't hit the middle, but all of your hits are close together, you are precise.

If you hit the middle, but your hits are not necessarily close together, you are accurate.

Precision is important in chemistry because that means that your results are consistent.

Accuracy is also important, but you also have to combine it with precision to get the best results.

To increase precision (and accuracy) reduce the amount of variables that may affect your experiment, and be as consistent as possible.