Accuracy is how close your answer is to the real thing.
Imagine you're playing a game where you guess how many jelly beans are in a jar. If you say there are 50 jelly beans, but there are really 50, then you're super accurate! But if you say 100, and it's only 50, you’re not so accurate anymore.
Like a Thermostat
Like a Scale
Or think of a scale, when you step on it to see how much you weigh. If the scale says 30 pounds, and that’s really your weight, it's accurate. But if it shows 30, but you actually weigh 25, then it’s not as accurate.
So accuracy is like being right on the money, not too high, not too low, just spot on!
Examples
- A student measures a pencil and says it's 10 inches long, but the actual length is 10.2 inches, that’s pretty accurate!
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See also
- What is precision?
- How do you make more precise instruments while only using less precise instruments?
- What are atomic clocks?
- How did time become something you could count?
- What is 37 units?