Question

If the experimental value is less than the accepted value, the error is what?

Answer 1

negative

If the experimental value is less than the accepted value, the error is negative. If the experimental value is larger than the accepted value, the error is positive. Often, error is reported as the absolute value of the difference in order to avoid the confusion of a negative error. The percent error is the absolute value of the error divided by the accepted value and multiplied by 100%.