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AQA Science: Glossary - Systematic Errors
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These cause readings to be spread about some value other than the true value; in other words, all the readings are shifted one way or the other way from the true value.
For example: A systematic error occurs when using a wrongly calibrated instrument.
e.g. Rachael's pendulum timing experiment was made worse by the fact that she also began counting at ‘1' not ‘0'. So all her times, in addition to random errors in her counting, were also short of one full swing each making her calculated times all smaller than the 'true values'.
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