Error in measurement

Many errors occur during measurement of a value. The following are the common measurement errors in measuring devices.

Types of Error

Static error:

It arises due to the nature of the components of the measuring device. These errors are due to several environmental influences and other effects.

a) Characteristic error:

It is the variation of the output of the measuring device to the standard device value. This is called as the characteristic error. Linearity, resolution and repeatability are some of the common characteristic errors.

b) Reading error:

It occurs due to the faulty reading of the instrument by the human eye. Parallax error is the major error in measurement. Using a proper reflecting device would avoid such an error.

c) Environmental error:

It happens due to the environmental effects on the measuring device. Temperature, light, heat is some of the effects. To avoid this the instrument must be kept in remote place and by maintaining the atmospheric conditions as a whole.

d) Loading error:

Loading errors are very common in measurement. It occurs due to excessive loading on the measuring instrument. If the measuring device is deflected during the loading process it produces the loading error.

e) Dynamic error:

Dynamic errors are time based errors. For instance, inertia, friction and other errors like velocity are very common time based errors. They can be classified into controllable and non-controllable errors.

f) Calibration error:

Calibration is the process where one instrument is compared with a standard instrument and the errors are found out. By using a standard instrument with error, a calibration error may develop in the apparatus.