Analytical chemistry is the science of obtaining, processing, and communicating information about the

composition and structure of matter. In other words, it is the art and science of determining what
matter is and how much of it exists.
Analytical chemistry spans nearly all areas of chemistry but involves the development of tools and
methods to measure physical properties of substances and apply those techniques to the identification
of their presence (qualitative analysis) and quantify the amount present (quantitative analysis) of
species in a wide variety of settings.

Wilhelm Ostwald was born on September 2, 1853, in Riga, Latvia, as the son of master-cooper Gottfried
Wilhelm Ostwald and Elisabith Leuckel.
He was educated at the "Real gymnasium" there and in 1872 was admitted to Dorpat University to read
chemistry. After taking his final examinations three years later, he obtained the post of assistant at the
Physics Institute under Professor Arthur von Oettingen, and subsequently took a similar position in the
Chemistry Laboratory under Carl Schmidt. Ostwald himself declared that he was most indebted to these
two teachers for his scientific training. In 1877 he was admitted as unpaid academic lecturer at Dorpat
University, and this was followed (1881) by the appointment of full time Professor of Chemistry at the
Polytechnicum in Riga. Six years later he accepted an invitation as Professor of Physical Chemistry at
Leipzig University. Among his later famous pupils are Arrhenius (Nobel Prize 1903), Van 't Hoff (Nobel
Prize 1901), Nernst (Nobel Prize 1920), Tammann and Wislicenus. Ostwald remained in Leipzig until he
retired in 1906, with the short interruption for one term as first "Exchange Professor" at Harvard
University, Cambridge (Mass.) in 1904-1905.
Ostwald started his experimental work in 1875, with an investigation on the law of mass action of water
in relation to the problems of chemical affinity, with special emphasis on electrochemistry and chemical
dynamics.
In consequence of his pioneering work especially in the field of electrochemistry, which also led to the
discovery of the law of dilution named after him, his activities as a writer and his gift for organization,
Ostwald became one of the founders of classical physical chemistry. He published numerous textbooks,
starting with the Lehrbuch der Allgemeinen Chemie (Textbook of general chemistry) in 1884. This was
followed by Grundriss der Allgemeinen Chemie (Outline of general chemistry) in 1889 and Hand- und
Hilfsbuch zur Ausfhrung physikalisch-chemischer Messungen (Handbook and manual for
physicochemical measurements) in 1893. Numerous other scientific works on analytical chemistry,
electrochemistry, inorganic chemistry followed.
Ostwald also founded and edited the Zeitschrift fr physikalische Chemie in 1887; Ostwald himself
edited 100 volumes, up to 1922.
He was also in charge of the organization of the Department of Physical Chemistry at Leipzig University,
and in 1894 he founded the "Deutsche Elektrochemische Gesellschaft" (German Electrochemical
Society) which in 1902 expanded to become the "Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft fr angewandte
physikalische Chemie" (German Bunsen-Society for Applied Physical Chemistry).
In 1909 Ostwald was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria
and reaction velocities. He received honorary doctorates from several universities in Germany, Great
Britain and the USA, and was made an honorary member of learned societies in Germany, Sweden,
Norway, the Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain and the USA. In 1899 he was made a "Geheimrat " by the
King of Saxony.
After his retirement in 1906, Ostwald found a new sphere for his scientific and organizatorial talents.
Besides continuing his studies and publication on philosophy, such as Der energetische Imperativ (The
energetic imperative), Moderne Naturphilosophie (Modern natural philosophy), Die Pyramide der
Wissenschaften (The pyramid of the sciences), he also took an active part in public life. He supported
the middle-class pacifist movement, was interested in educational reforms and in monism. He believed
that in view of his position he could decisively fight the Church's claim to power in the field of natural
sciences and to spread a modern scientific ideology. This aim he pursued in his writings Monistische
Sonntagspredigten (Monistic Sunday sermons) and Arbeiten zum Monismus (Works on monism).
In 1902 Ostwald founded Annalen der Naturphilosophie and edited 14 volumes up to 1921. He also
founded Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften in 1889, of which some 250 volumes have been
published.
Right up to the end of his life Ostwald studied colours and shapes, in the endeavour to find a scientific
standardization for colours. His main works in this field are Die Farbenfibel (The coulour primer), Die
Farbenlehre (Colour theory), Die Harmonie der Farben (Harmony of the colours). He also published a
periodical Die Farbe (Colour).
Ostwald was married to Helene von Reyher in 1880. They had two daughters and three sons, one of
whom, Dr. Karl Wilhelm Wolfgang (known in the scientific literature as Wo. Ostwald), was Lecturer in
the University of Leipzig, and Editor of the Zeitschrift fr Chemie und Industrie der Kolloide, the
forerunner of the Kolloid-Zeitschrift.
After an extremely active life, Ostwald died at his country home near Leipzig on April 4, 1932.

Qualitative Analysis is the determination of non-numerical information about a chemical species, a

reaction, etc. Examples would be observing that a reaction is creating gas that is bubbling out of solution
or observing that a reaction results in a color change. Qualitative analysis is not as reliable as
quantitative analysis but is often far easier, faster and cheaper to perform. This chapter discusses how
to perform a systematic analysis on inorganic material to ascertain its composition.

Quantitative chemical analysis, branch of chemistry that deals with the determination of the amount or
percentage of one or more constituents of a sample. A variety of methods is employed for quantitative
analyses, which for convenience may be broadly classified as chemical or physical, depending upon
which properties are utilized. Chemical methods depend upon such reactions as precipitation,
neutralization, oxidation, or, in general, the formation of a new compound. The major types of strictly
chemical methods are known as gravimetric analysis and volumetric, or titrimetric, analysis (see
volumetric analysis). Physical methods involve the measurement of some physical property such as
density, refractive index, absorption or polarization of light, electromotive force, magnetic susceptibility,
and numerous others. An analysis will often require a combination of methods: qualitative for
separating desired constituents from a sample and quantitative for measuring the amounts present.
The basic tool in all quantitative analyses is the analytical balance, used for the accurate weighing of
samples and precipitates. For usual analytical work the balance should be able to determine differences
in mass of 0.1 milligram (about 0.000004 ounce). In microanalyses the balance must be about 1,000
times more sensitive, and, for special work, balances of even higher sensitivity have been constructed.

Gravimetry includes all analytical methods in which the analytical signal is a measurement of mass or a
change in mass. When you step on a scale after exercising you are making, in a sense, a gravimetric
determination of your mass. Mass is the most fundamental of all analytical measurements, and
gravimetry is unquestionably our oldest quantitative analytical technique. The publication in 1540 of
Vannoccio Biringuccios Pirotechnia is an early example of applying gravimetryalthough not yet known
by this nameto the analysis of metals and ores.1 Although gravimetry no longer is the most important
analytical method, it continues to find use in specialized applications.
Volumetric analysis, any method of quantitative chemical analysis in which the amount of a substance is
determined by measuring the volume that it occupies or, in broader usage, the volume of a second
substance that combines with the first in known proportions, more correctly called titrimetric analysis
(see titration).
The first method is exemplified in a procedure devised by a French chemist, Jean-Baptiste-Andr Dumas,
for determining the proportion of nitrogen combined with other elements in organic compounds. A
weighed sample of the compound is burned in a furnace under conditions that ensure the conversion of
all the nitrogen to elemental nitrogen gas, N2. The nitrogen is carried from the furnace in a stream of
carbon dioxide that is passed into a strong alkali solution, which absorbs the carbon dioxide and allows
the nitrogen to accumulate in a graduated tube. The mass of the nitrogen can be calculated from the
volume it occupies under known conditions of temperature and pressure, and therefore the proportion
of nitrogen in the sample can be determined.
A volumetric method is also applied in the analysis of nitrates, which can be converted into nitric oxide,
NO, a gas. Production or consumption of carbon dioxide during biological processes often is measured
volumetrically. The composition of fuel gases and combustion products can be determined by measuring
the changes in volume that occur when the sample is treated successively with reagents that specifically
absorb such components as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and others.

Electroanalytical methods are a class of techniques in

analytical chemistry, which study an analyte by
measuring the potential (volts) and/or current (amperes)
in an electrochemical cell containing the analyte.
The three main categories are potentiometry (the
difference in electrode potentials is measured),
coulometry (the cell's current is measured over time),
and voltammetry (the cell's current is measured while
actively altering the cell's potential).

An early example of a colorimetric analysis is Nesslers method for ammonia, which was introduced in
1856. Nessler found that adding an alkaline solution of HgI2 and KI to a dilute solution of ammonia
produces a yellow to reddish brown colloid, with the colloids color depending on the concentration of
ammonia. By visually comparing the color of a sample to the colors of a series of standards, Nessler was
able to determine the concentration of ammonia.
Colorimetry, in which a sample absorbs visible light, is one example of a spectroscopic method of
analysis. At the end of the nineteenth century, spectroscopy was limited to the absorption, emission,
and scattering of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared electromagnetic radiation. Since its introduction,
spectroscopy has expanded to include other forms of electromagnetic radiationsuch as X-rays,
microwaves, and radio wavesand other energetic particlessuch as electrons and ions.

replicate (duplicate) sample

Multiple (or two) samples taken under comparable conditions. This selection may be accomplished by
taking units adjacent in time or space. Although the replicate samples are expected to be identical, often
the only thing replicated is the act of taking the physical sample. A duplicate sample is a replicate sample
consisting of two portions. The umpire sample is usually used to settle a dispute; the replicate sample is
usually used to estimate sample variability.