Only a strict quantitative experimental verification allows us to evaluate the validity and generality of the theory.
G.P. Gladyshev, President of the International Academy of Creativity ("Thermodynamic evolution theory of living beings?, 1996)
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
1.1. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
In general terms, the purpose of quantitative analysis is to obtain necessary quantitative data on individual components of the system, i.e., to determine quantitatively the content of the main component, constituent parts or impurities in the analyzed sample.
The recommended definition (proposed in Journal of Analytical Chemistry back in 1975) is the following: quantitative analysis of a substance is the experimental determination (measurement) of the concentration (quantity) of chemical elements (compounds) or their forms in an analyzed substance, which is expressed as the boundaries of a confidence interval or number indicating the standard deviation.
Quantitative analysis is widely used in pharmaceutical analysis and is an essential part of the pharmacopoeial analysis of any drug product.
1.2. CLASSIFICATION OF QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
METHODS
Quantitative analysis methods are usually classified as follows: chemical, physico-chemical, physical, biological ones.
Chemical methods of analysis include gravimetric (weight) and titrimetric (volumetric) methods.
Gravimetric methods are based on precise mass measurement of the analyzed component of a sample, separated from other components of the system, in elemental form (i.e., in the stable form of a given chemical element) or in the form of a compound with a precisely known composition. Gravimetric methods are simple to perform, highly accurate and reproducible, but quite laborious and time-consuming.