Chapter 01

Error Analysis
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Know about the exact, relative and percentage error.
2. Relate the absolute relative approximate error to the number of significant digits
at least correct in your answers.
3. Know that there are two inherent sources of error in numerical methods – round-
off and truncation error.
4. Know the difference between round-off and truncation error.
5. Know the concept of significant digits.

Introduction:
Error in solving an engineering or science problem can arise due to several factors. First, the error may
be in the modeling technique. A mathematical model may be based on using assumptions that are not
acceptable. For example, there are two kinds of numbers such as exact and approximate numbers, such
2 3
the exact numbers are 1, 2, 5, … . , 5 , 2 , … … , 𝜋, 𝑒, … . . 𝑒𝑡𝑐 and the approximate numbers are
representations of exact numbers to a certain degree of accuracy. Thus, 3.1416 is an approximate
number of  and 3.14159265 is another approximate number of  . Second, errors may arise from
mistakes in programs themselves or in the measurement of physical quantities. But, in applications of
numerical methods itself, hear we focus on these type of errors,
1. Absolute error
2. Relative error
3. Percentage error
4. Round off error
5. Truncation error.
Different Types of Error:
In this section we discussed about different types of error.

Absolute Error:

Prepared By,
Md. Mehedi Hasan, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Department of General Educational Development (GED),
FSIT, Daffodil International University (DIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 Error Analysis Page |2

The absolute error of a quantity is the absolute value of the difference between the exact value and the
approximate value. It is denoted by E A . If the exact value is 𝑋 and approximate value is 𝑥, the absolute
error is define by, 𝐸𝐴 = |𝑋 − 𝑥|.

Relative Error:
The relative error of a quantity is the ratio of its absolute error to its exact value. It is denoted by ER ,
𝐸𝐴
that is 𝐸𝑅 = .
𝑋

Percentage Error:
The percentage error of a quantity is 100 times of its relative error. It is denoted by E p , that is 𝐸𝑃 =
100𝐸𝑅

Problem: If an approximate value of  is 3.1428571 and let exact value is 3.1415926. Find the
absolute, relative and percentage errors.
Solution: We have, exact value is 𝑋 = 3.1415926 and approximate value is 𝑥 = 3.1428571
The absolute error is,
𝐸𝐴 = |𝑋 − 𝑥| = |3.1415926 − 3.1428571| = |−0.0012645| = 0.0012645
𝐸𝐴 0.0012645
The relative error is, 𝐸𝑅 = = 3.1415926 = 0.000402
𝑋

The percentage error is, 𝐸𝑃 = 100𝐸𝑅 = 100 × 0.000402 = 0.0402%

Round off Error:

When a calculator or digital computer is used to perform numerical calculations, an unavoidable error,
called round-off error, must be considered. A round-off error, also called rounding error, is the
difference between the calculated approximation of a number and its exact mathematical value due to
1
rounding. For example, a number like 3 may be represented as 0.333333 on a PC. Then the round off
1
error in this case is − 0.333333 = 0.00000033̅. Then there are other numbers that cannot be
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represented exactly. For example, 𝜋 and √2 are numbers that need to be approximated in computer
calculations.
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Formula: If the number P is rounded to N decimal place then 𝐸𝐴 = 2 (10−𝑁 )

Problem: Find the absolute, relative and percentage errors of the number 8.6 if both of its digits are
correct (i.e, this number rounded to one decimal place).
Solution: The given number is 𝑃 = 8.6
Since both digits are correct so N = 1
1
The absolute error is, 𝐸𝐴 = 2 (10−1 ) = 0.05 (i.e, exact value 𝑋 = 8.6)

Prepared By,
Md. Mehedi Hasan, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Department of General Educational Development (GED),
FSIT, Daffodil International University (DIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 Error Analysis Page |3
𝐸𝐴 0.05
The relative error is, 𝐸𝑅 = = = 0.0058
𝑋 8.6
The percentage error is, 𝐸𝑃 = 100𝐸𝑅 = 100 × 0.0058 = 0.58%

Significant Digits:
Significant digits are certain digits that have significance or meaning and give more precise details
about the value of the number. If I offered you $2,000, the 2 in 2000 is significant because it tells you
exactly how many thousands. Again let's say two people ran a race. Runner 1 took 30.01 seconds, and
runner 2 took 30.02 seconds. Who would win the race? Obviously, runner 1 because he took less time.
All those numbers are significant because we need them all to tell us exactly who won the race.
So we have some rules to identify the significant numbers,
Rule 1: Every non-zero digit is significant

• 456 has 3 significant digits

• 68.29 has 4 significant digits
Rule 2: Zeros between non-zero digits are always significant

• 5,609 has 4 significant digits.

• 700.0879 has 7 significant digits.
Rule 3: Zeros before non-zero digits are never significant

• 0.067 has 2 significant digits

• 0.000008 has 1 significant digit
Rule 4: Zeros behind non-zero digits are sometimes significant

• 12.2300 has six significant figures: 1, 2, 2, 3, 0 and 0.

• 0.000122300 still has only six significant figures (the zeros before the 1 are not significant).
• 120.00 has five significant figures since it has three trailing zeros.
Note: If the digit immediately to the right of the last significant figure is greater than 5 or is a 5 followed
by other non-zero digits, add 1 to the last significant figure. For example, 1.2459 as the result of a
calculation or measurement that only allows for 3 significant figures should be written 1.25

More Examples:

Problem: Evaluate the sum 𝑆 = √2 + √3 + √5 to 4 significant digits and also find its absolute, relative
and percentage errors.

Solution: For the 4 significant digits we may write √2 = 1.414, √3 = 1.732, √2 = 2.236

So, sum 𝑆 = 1.414 + 1.732 + 2.236 = 5.382

Prepared By,
Md. Mehedi Hasan, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Department of General Educational Development (GED),
FSIT, Daffodil International University (DIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 Error Analysis Page |4

Since the values of √2, √3 and √5 are rounded to three decimal places, so 𝑁 = 3.
1 1 1
Now the absolute error is, 𝐸𝐴 = 2 (10−3 ) + 2 (10−3 ) + 2 (10−3 )
= 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 = 0.0015
The absolute error shows that the sum is correct to two decimal places only, so we take exact value
𝑋 = 5.38
𝐸𝐴 0.0015
The relative error is, 𝐸𝑅 = = = 0.00028
𝑋 5.38
The percentage error is, 𝐸𝑃 = 100𝐸𝑅 = 100 × 0.00028 = 0.028%

Problem: Evaluate the sum 𝑆 = √11 + √21 + √31 to 5 significant digits and also find its 𝐸𝐴 , 𝐸𝑅 , 𝐸𝑃 .

Solution: For the 5 significant digits we may write, √11 = 3.3166, √21 = 4.5826, √31 = 5.5678

So, sum 𝑆 = 3.3166 + 4.5826 + 5.5678 = 13.467

Since the values of √11, √21 and √31 are rounded to four decimal places, so 𝑁 = 4.
1 1 1
Now the absolute error is, 𝐸𝐴 = 2 (10−4 ) + 2 (10−4 ) + 2 (10−4 )
= 0.00005 + 0.00005 + 0.00005 = 0.00015
The absolute error shows that the sum is correct to three decimal places only, so we take exact value
𝑋 = 13.467
𝐸𝐴 0.00015
The relative error is, 𝐸𝑅 = = = 0.00001113834
𝑋 13.467
The percentage error is, 𝐸𝑃 = 100𝐸𝑅 = 100 × 0.00001113834 = 0.001113834%

Problem: If the number 5.365489 is correct to 5 significant digits, then find the values of 𝐸𝐴 , 𝐸𝑅 , 𝐸𝑃 .

Solution: The given number is 5.365489, but this number is correct to 5 significant digits so
𝑃 = 5.3655.
Since 𝑃 rounded to 4 decimal places so 𝑁 = 4.
1
The absolute error is, 𝐸𝐴 = 2 (10−4 ) = 0.00005 (i.e, exact value 𝑋 = 5.3655)
𝐸𝐴 0.00005
The relative error is, 𝐸𝑅 = = = 0.0000093188
𝑋 5.3655

The percentage error is, 𝐸𝑃 = 100𝐸𝑅 = 100 × 0.0000093188 = 0.00093188%

Prepared By,
Md. Mehedi Hasan, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Department of General Educational Development (GED),
FSIT, Daffodil International University (DIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 Error Analysis Page |5

Practice Work

1) Define absolute, relative, percentage error, round off error, truncation error with example.
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2) Three approximations of the number are given as 0.32, 0.33 and 0.34. Find the best
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approximation among the three.

3) Evaluate the sum 𝑆 = √3 + √5 + √7 + √11 to 6 significant digits and find its percentage
error, absolute error, relative error?
4) Find the absolute, relative and percentage errors of the number 5.2356 if 4 significant digits are
correct.
5) Evaluate the sum S = √𝟏𝟏 + √𝟐𝟏 + √𝟑𝟏 to 5 significant digits and find its E A , ER , EP ?
6) Find the absolute, relative and percentage errors of the number 0.3576 if 2 significant digits are
correct.

Prepared By,
Md. Mehedi Hasan, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Department of General Educational Development (GED),
FSIT, Daffodil International University (DIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.