What does a negative percent error mean?
The ratio of the absolute value of the error and the accepted value, when multiplied by 100, is called a percent error.
Answer: If the experimental value is less than the accepted value, then the percent error is negative.
Generally, the error is calculated as the measure of the absolute difference to avoid the confusion of a negative error.
Explanation:
Percent error is the absolute value of the error divided by the accepted value and multiplied by 100.
Sometimes, the Experimental value may be a smaller than the accepted value(theoretical value), then the error obtained is negative.
If the experimental value is more than the accepted value, then the obtained error is positive.
Often, the error is reported as the absolute value of the difference to avoid the confusion of a negative error.
So, for cases where the experimental value is less than the accepted value, the percent error is negative.
Thus, the negative percent error is obtained if the experimental value is less than the actual accepted value.
visual curriculum