Analytical chemists face both qualitative and quantitative problems. For example,
the presence of boron in distilled water is very damaging in the manufacture of electronic
components, so we might be asked the qualitative question ‘Does this distilled
water sample contain any boron?’ The comparison of soil samples in forensic
science provides another qualitative problem: ‘Could these two soil samples have
come from the same site?’ Other problems are quantitative ones: ‘How much albumin
is there in this sample of blood serum?’ ‘What is the level of lead in this sample
of tap-water?’ ‘This steel sample contains small amounts of chromium, tungsten and
manganese – how much of each?’ These are typical examples of single- and multiplecomponent
quantitative analyses.