Approximation error: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:10, 3 December 2006

Revision as of 22:14, 3 December 2006

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In the [[mathematics|mathematical]] subfield of [[numerical analysis]] the '''approximation error''' in some data is the [[discrepancy]] between an exact value and some approximation to it. An approximation error can occur because

#the [[measurement]] of the [[data]] is not precise (due to the instruments), or

#approximations are used instead of the real data (e.g., 3.14 instead of π).

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where the vertical bars denote the [[absolute value]], ''a'' represents the true value, and ''b'' represents the approximation to ''a''.

==Propagation of Errorserrors==

When calculating using approximate values it is important to be able to calculate the errors involved.