TABLE OF CONTENTS Analytical methods are used to qualitatively and quantitatively establish the composition of a material. An analyst is often faced with answering questions of the type:
Can this unknown substance x be identified?
How much is there of x in y (e.g. lead in water, pesticides in fish, oil in a shale) or is there a suitable way of estimating the amount of substance x present? Is it necessary to take account of other chemicals present in y when performing the analysis?
If the analysis is repeated using identical samples will the results be identical?
If two different people use the same analytical method to analyse identical samples, will they both find the same amount of x in y?
If an alternative analytical method is used, will it give the same result for identical samples?
This Part deals with the language associated with analytical methods.
