Chemical methods of quantitative analysis

Quantitative analysis puts a number on how much of a substance is present, rather than merely detecting its presence. For organic compounds, this typically means either determining the percentage of a particular constituent element in the sample, or determining the concentration of a known compound within a larger sample. For simple inorganic compounds, quantitative analysis instead usually relies on one of two classical approaches: a decomposition reaction, whose product is weighed to give the answer (this is gravimetric analysis), or following a reaction between two solutions until it is complete, using the volume of reagent consumed to calculate the answer (this is titrimetric or volumetric analysis). Either way, the quantitative analytical methods used in the laboratory ultimately come down to measuring basic physical quantities — chiefly mass and volume — using appropriate equipment such as a weighing (analytical) balance for mass and a burette o …