Systematic error
Leaving Cert Physics · Nature of Science
Higher Level
A fault in the apparatus or the method that shifts every reading in the same direction by about the same amount, such as a zero error on a balance. Repeating the measurement will not remove it; the instrument must be checked or the readings corrected.
Ordinary Level
A fault that shifts every reading the same way, such as a scale that does not start at zero. Repeating the reading will not fix it.
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