GlossaryofAnalyticalTerms

ver.20100420 by BrianM.Tissue

Abstract
Thefollowingglossarydefinesthemostcommontermsencounteredinanalyticalchemistry. Manyofthesetermsareusedinterchangeablyincommonusage.Describingchemical measurementproceduresandresultsrequiresthatweuseacceptedterminologytoavoid confusion.FormosttermsIfollowrecommendationsbyIUPACandnoteanydeviations. 1 Other fieldsofscienceandengineeringmighthaveslightlydifferentconventions,sousethecontext toeliminateanyambiguity. Thecurrentversionofthisdocumentisavailableonlineat: http://www.files.chem.vt.edu/chemed/atext/. ForusewithB.M.Tissue,BasicsofAnalyticalChemistryandChemicalEquilibria(JohnWiley: NewYork,2011). Contents page
Abstract.........................................................................................................................................................1 AC..............................................................................................................................................................2 CE ...............................................................................................................................................................3 EM.............................................................................................................................................................4 MR.............................................................................................................................................................5 SS...............................................................................................................................................................6 SZ...............................................................................................................................................................7

1 IUPACCompendiumofChemicalTerminologytheGoldBook(InternationalUnionofPureand AppliedChemistry:ResearchTrianglePark,NC,20052009);available: http://goldbook.iupac.org/index.html,Release2.1.5,20090907.

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AC
accuracy
Theclosenessofanexperimentalmeasurementtothetruevalue.

analyte
Thechemicalspeciestobeidentifiedorquantitated.Canbeapuresubstanceoroneconstituentofa multicomponentsample.

baseline
Theaveragevalueofblankmeasurements.Forspectralandchromatographicdata,theaverage minimumwheretherearenopeaks.Forspectraitmightalsorefertotheaveragevalueofareference spectrum.

bias
seeerror,systematic

blank
Astandardthatcontainsnoanalyte,i.e.,aconcentrationof0.0.Thecompositionshouldotherwise matchthesamplesolution.Variationsincludemethod,equipment,andinstrumentblanksforblanks thatgothroughalloronlypartofthesampleprocessingprocedures.

blank,field
Ablankpreparedinthefieldthatgoesthroughallsampleprocessingandanalysisprocedures.A variationisaspikedfieldblank.

calibration
Theprocessofmeasuringaknownquantitytodeterminetherelationshipbetweenthemeasurement signalandtheanalyteamountorconcentration.

calibrationcurve
Aplotofsignalversusanalyteamountorconcentrationformultiplestandards.Usedtocalibratea measurementoveranextendedrange.

calibrationfunction
Themathematicalequationthatisthebestfittothedatainacalibrationcurve.

contaminant
Asubstance,includingtheanalyteitself,thatisintroducedunintentionallyintoasampleduring collection,processing,ormeasurement.

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CE
controlchart
Aplotversustimeoftheresultsofoneormorecontrolsamples.Usuallyincludestheupperandlower limitstospecifyifamethodorinstrumentiswithinoroutofcontrol. controlsamples(qualitycontrolsamples) Theblanks,standards,andspikedsamplesthataremeasuredtodeterminetheaccuracyofa measurement.

duplicatesample
Asamplethatissplitintotwoportionstomonitormethodvariability.Amethodwilloftenspecify analysisofduplicatesamplesatsomefrequencybasedontimeornumberofcollectedsamples.Seealso replicatemeasurements.

falsepositive
Determinationthatananalyteispresentinasamplethathadnoanalyte.Causesincludecontamination ormemoryeffects.

falsenegative
Inabilitytodetectananalytethatispresentabovethedetectionlimit.Occursduetoanalytelossin sampleprocessingorinterferencesobscuringthetruesignal.

drift
Thegradualchangeinblankmeasurementsovertime.

qualitativeanalysis
Makingmeasurementstodeterminetheidentity,structure,orphysicalpropertiesofasubstance.

quantitativeanalysis
Makingmeasurementstodeterminetheamountofananalyteinasample.

detector
Adevicethatrespondstothepresenceofanalyte,usuallygeneratinganelectricaloutput.

dynamicrange
Theratioofthemaximumtotheminimummeasurablesignal.Themaximumisdeterminedbythepoint atwhichthesignalnolongerincreaseswithincreasinganalyteconcentrationandtheminimumis chosenastheLOD.Seealsolinearrange.

error,random
Thespreadinreplicatemeasurementsduetorandomfluctuations.

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EM
error,systematic
Thedifferencebetweenameasurementandthetruevalue.

goodlaboratorypractice(GLP)
SpecificregulationsintheCodeofFederalRegulationsbywhichlaboratoriesmustconduct,verify,and maintaintheirprocedures,results,andrecords.

interference
Acomponentthatisinorisintroducedintoasamplethatcausesameasurementtobehigherorlower thanthetruevalue.

IUPAC(InternationalUnionofPureandAppliedChemistry)
Anongovernmentalagencythatrecommendsstandardizationofchemicalnomenclature,terminology, andchemicalandphysicaldata.

limitofdetection(LOD)
Theminimumconcentrationatwhichananalytecanbereportedasdetected.Determinedfromasignal levelthatis3timesthebaselinenoise.

limitofquantitation(LOQ)
Theminimumconcentrationatwhichananalyteconcentrationcanbereported.Determinedfroma signallevelthatis10timesthebaselinenoise.

linearrange
ofananalyticalmethodorinstrumentistherangeofconcentrationsthatfallinthelinearrange.

linearregression
Acalculationalmethodusingleastsquarestodeterminethebestlinearequationtodescribeasetofx andydatapairs.

matrixeffects
Systematicerrorsduetodetailsofthesamplematrix.

memoryeffect
Anapparentsignalfromaninstrumentthatoccursduetocontaminationfromaprevioussample.

methoddevelopment
Determiningtheexperimentalconditionsforsamplecollection,preparation,andmeasurementthat produceaccurateandrepeatableresults.

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MR
methodvalidation
Performingcontrolexperimentstoverifytheaccuracy,sensitivity,specificity,andreproducibilityoftest methods.[Italizedtermsfrom21CFR211.165(e).]

noise
Randomfluctuationsinthesignal.Usuallyquantifiedusingthestandarddeviationofmultiple measurementsofablank.

precision
Therepeatabilityinmakingreplicatemeasurements.Imprecision,orthelackofprecision,isprobablya bettertermtodescribetherepeatabilityofmeasurements,butprecisionisthemorecommonterm. Quantitativemeasuresincludestandarddeviation,standarderror,andconfidencelimits.

qualityassurance
Auditingofmethodsandproceduretoensureaccurateresults.

qualitycontrol
Proceduresofinstrumentcalibrationandmethodvalidationtoproduceaccurateresults.

repeatability
Comparisonofreplicatemeasurementsmadeonthesamesampleandperformedunderidentical conditions.

replicatemeasurements
Multiplemeasurementsofthesamesample.Replicatemeasurementsaremadebydividingthesample intoseveralportionsandmeasuringeachportionseparately.Doingreplicatemeasurementsprovidea measureofprecisionofthemethodandcanidentifyoutliersduetogrosserrorssuchasomittingone stepinaprocedure,onetimeinstrumentglitches,orrecordingavalueincorrectly.

reproducibility
Comparisonofreplicatemeasurementsmadeonthesamesamplebydifferentanalystsordifferent methods.Thecalculationsofprecisionarethesameforrepeatabilityandreproducibility,thedifference isthesourceofthemeasurementsbeingdescribed.

robustness
Theimpactthatvariableexperimentalconditions,suchastemperature,pH,ionicstrength,etc,canhave onameasurement.

ruggedness
Seereproducibility.

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SS
selectivity
Thediscriminationofananalyteversusothercomponentsinthesample.

sensitivity
Theproportionalityfactorofthemeasurement,i.e.,slopeofthecalibrationfunction.

sensitivity
Thechangeindetectorsignalversuschangeinanalyteconcentration.

signal
Thedetectoroutputthatisdisplayedorrecorded.

signaltonoiseratio(S/NorSNR)
Theratioofthesignaltothebaselinenoise.

signalaveraging
Recordingandaveragingasignalforsomenumberofmeasurementsorforsometimeperiodto improvethesignaltonoiseratio.Thesampleisnotchanged,whichdistinguishessignalaveragingfrom makingreplicatemeasurements.

smoothing
Averagingadjacentpointsinaspectrumorplottoreducethenoise.

specificity
Theabilityofamethodorinstrumenttomeasureananalyteinthepresenceofothersample components.

spike
Aninternalstandardorstandardadditionaddedtoasampleorblank.

stability
Retentionofanalyteovertimeorduringsamplepreparationandanalysissteps.

standard
Asampleofknowncompositionpreparedfromacertifiedreferencematerial.

standard,internal
astandardthatisaddeddirectlytothesample.Theinternalstandardisthenmeasuredsimultaneously withtheanalyte.

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SZ
standard,primary
areagentthatisextremelypure,stable,hasnowatersofhydration,andhasahighformulaweight.

standard,secondary
astandardthatispreparedinthelaboratoryorbyathirdpartyforaspecificanalysis.Itisusually standardizedagainstaprimarystandard.

standardadditionmethod
involvesaddingaknownamountoftheanalyte,aspike,tothesampletoprovidean``internal'' calibrationtothemeasurement.

standardoperatingprocedure(SOP)
Adocumentcontainingtheinstructionsforaspecificanalyticalprocedureorinstrument

traceanalysis
Measurementofanalyteconcentrationsoflessthanapproximately100ppm.

validation
Seemethodvalidation.

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2010byBrianM.Tissue