In the chapters that follow we will explore many aspects of analytical chemistry. In the process we will consider important questions such as “How do we treat experimental data?”, “How do we ensure that our results are accurate?”, “How do we obtain a representative sample?”, and “How do we select an appropriate analytical technique?” Before we look more closely at these and other questions, we will first review some basic tools of importance to analytical chemists.
Thumbnail: A Roberval balance. The pivots of the parallelogram understructure makes it insensitive to load positioning away from center, so improves its accuracy, and ease of use. Image used with permission (CC BY-SA 3.0; Nikodem Nijaki)