What are the two types of errors?
Random and systematic
What do random errors do?
Cause readings to be spread about the true value, as results vary in unpredictable ways from one measurement to the next
What do systematic errors do?
Cause readings to be different from the true value by a predictable amount in a predictable way
What are 2 types of systematic errors that can occur and what do they do?
Zero error - occurs when the instrument does not read zero when it should
Parallax error - occurs when the line of sight making the measurement is not perpendicular to the scale
How can you reduce random errors?
taking a mean of the readings and taking more measurements
What is most likely to have occurred if the line of best fit does not go through the origin but was expected to?
A systematic error, however if the origin lies between the two lines of worst fit then it is a random error
