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I have been scratching my head at this for awhile, I see this all over the internet with mixed answers.

When calculating the percent error does the absolute value bar go all the way through to the fraction or just the numerator?

Example:

$$\ |\frac{accepted - calculated }{accepted }| *100\% $$ OR

$$\frac{|accepted - calculated| }{accepted } * 100\% $$

Geno C
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  • The percent error is always positive. It's just that in physics it is extremely rare for the accepted value to be negative. (maybe negative electrical charge or something), and so some books/sources just write it as the second case. – KingLogic Oct 18 '20 at 06:22
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    It goes all the way, like the first formula you wrote. Maybe some places are assuming the accepted value is positive. In which case the second formula also gives the right answer. But the first formula is the correct one and it always works. – Ameet Sharma Oct 18 '20 at 06:22

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