In statistics, RSD stands for relative standard deviation and is also known as the coefficient of variance. The RSD measures the precision of the average of your results. It can come in a percentage or as a basic numeral and be added or subtracted from your main measurement. For example, a standard deviation of 6% when your average result is 40 would mean that the vast majority of results fall between 34 and 46. Your result would read 40 +/- 6%. The smaller the calculated relative standard deviation is, the more precise the measurement is. It is often used in chemistry, and is fairly simple to calculate.
Instructions
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1
Find your standard deviation. See the Resources offered below for detailed instructions on finding standard deviation.
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2
Find your average by adding together all of your results and dividing it by the number of results you had.
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3
Take the standard deviation and multiply it by 100.
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4
Divide the number you get in Step 2 by your average.
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Using this formula, if you have a standard deviation of 2 and a mean of 100, it would look like this: (2*100)/100, 200/100 = 2. Your relative standard deviation is 2%.