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Concept Explainer · Industrial & Systems

Accuracy vs. Precision

Why a perfectly repeatable measurement can still be completely wrong.

People use "accurate" and "precise" as if they were the same compliment. In measurement and quality engineering they describe two completely independent things, and a gage, an instrument, or a process can score high on one and low on the other. Confusing them is one of the most consequential mistakes in metrology — it's how a mis-calibrated gauge keeps passing bad parts with total confidence.