Random errors are errors that cause your measurements to be sometimes above the accepted value and sometimes below the accepted value. They have no pattern or bias and hence cause measurement to vary in an unpredictable manner.

Common sources of random errors are problems estimating a quantity that lies between the graduations (the lines) on an instrument, the inability to read an instrument because the reading fluctuates during the measurement, and the experimenter’s inability to take the same measurement in exactly the same way.

The causes of random errors are not known. Hence, it is not possible to remove them completely. Random errors can be minimized by repeating the observation a large number of times and take the average.

Key Terms

• Systematic errors are errors that are consistently in the same direction, they are onesided errors.
• Random errors are errors that cause your measurements to be sometimes above the accepted value and sometimes below the accepted value.