Accuracy and Precision

Accuracy:
- Accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the true or accepted value.
- It is a measure of how well a result agrees with the actual value.
- In simpler terms, accuracy is the extent to which a measurement matches the true value of the quantity being measured.
- It is often expressed as a percentage error, with a lower percentage indicating higher accuracy.

Precision:
- Precision, on the other hand, refers to how close repeated measurements are to each other.
- It is a measure of the consistency or reproducibility of results.
- Precision does not necessarily imply accuracy; a set of measurements can be precise but not accurate if they are consistently off-target.
- Precision is often quantified by standard deviation or variance, with a lower value indicating higher precision.

Difference:
- Accuracy focuses on how close a measurement is to the true value, while precision focuses on how close multiple measurements are to each other.
- A measurement can be accurate but not precise (clustered around the wrong value), precise but not accurate (consistently off-target), both accurate and precise (clustered around the true value), or neither accurate nor precise (scattered randomly).
- In practical terms, it is desirable for measurements to be both accurate and precise to ensure reliable and valid results.