A portion of material selected from a larger quantity of material. The term needs
to be qualified, e.g.
bulk sample,
representative sample,
primary sample, bulked sample,
test sample.
The term '
sample' implies the existence of a
sampling error, i.e. the results obtained on the portions taken are only estimates of the concentration
of a
constituent or the quantity of a property present in the parent material. If there is no or negligible
sampling error, the portion removed is a
test portion, aliquot or specimen. The term '
specimen' is used to denote a portion taken under conditions such that the sampling variability
cannot be assessed (usually because the population is changing), and is assumed, for
convenience, to be zero. The manner of selection of the sample should be prescribed
in a sampling plan.
Source:
PAC, 1990, 62, 1193
(Nomenclature for sampling in analytical chemistry (Recommendations 1990))
on page 1200
PAC, 1989, 61, 1657
(Nomenclature for automated and mechanised analysis (Recommendations 1989))
on page 1660
See also:
PAC, 1988, 60, 1461
(Nomenclature, symbols, units and their usage in spectrochemical analysis-X. Preparation
of materials for analytical atomic spectroscopy and other related techniques (Recommendations
1988))
on page 1465
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
