 Relative error

For a nonzero reference value $x$, the relative error is the absolute error divided by the reference's absolute value:It is dimensionless and expresses the size of the error compared with the quantity being approximated. Approximating $1/3$ by $0.33$ has absolute error $1/300$ and relative error $1/100=1\%$. The definition is unavailable when the reference is zero; use an absolute error or a separately stated scale in that case.