Wikijunior:The Book of Estimation/Accumulated error

After going through the absolute error and the maximum absolute error, we face yet another type of error: accumulated error.

Accumulated error in measurement
Accumulated error is the maximum absolute error of a measurement which is obtained by using a formula which utilises approximate measurements. Take a look at this example for instance.

As you can see from above, in order to find the accumulated error, you should find the differences between the maximum and minimum value and the measured value. The accumulated error is the larger of the two.