Question

A student uses a balance to determine the mass of an object as 5.719 grams. the correct mass of the object is 5.586 grams. what is the percent error in the students mass determination

Answer 1

The percentage error is given by multiplying relative error by 100%.
Therefore, to get the percentage error we need relative error which is given by dividing the absolute error with the actual value. 
Absolute error = 0.133
Percentage error = 0.133/5.586 × 100%
                            = 2.38%
The percentage error is therefore; 2.38%