Sample (material)
{{Short description|Limited amount of something intended to represent a larger amount of the same}}
{{About|representative samples||Sample (disambiguation){{!}}Sample}}
{{Distinguish|Sample (statistics)}}
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File:00_BMA_Automation_Sampling_cock.JPG
In general, a sample is a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount of that thing(s).{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aW0zkZl0JgQC&pg=PA1592 |title=Mosby's Medical Dictionary |editor=O'Toole, M.T. |publisher=Elsevier Mosby |edition=9th |page=1592 |year=2011 |isbn=9780323085410}} The things could be countable objects such as individual items available as units for sale, or an uncountable material. Even though the word "sample" implies a smaller quantity taken from a larger amount, sometimes full biological or mineralogical specimens are called samples if they are taken for analysis, testing, or investigation like other samples. They are also considered samples in the sense that even whole specimens are "samples" of the full population of many individual organisms.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnFa_Y2FmDYC&pg=PA45 |chapter=Collecting and Archiving Wildlife Specimens in Canada |title=Environmental Specimen Banking and Monitoring as Related to Banking |author=Elliott, J.E. |editor=Lewis, R.A. |editor2=Stein, N. |editor3=Lewis, C.W. |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |year=1984 |pages=45–66 |isbn=0898386217}} The act of obtaining a sample is called "sampling"{{cite book |url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-09/documents/marssim_manual_rev1.pdf |chapter=Chapter 7: Sampling and Preparation for Laboratory Measurements |title=Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) |author=Department of Defense |author2=Environmental Protection Agency |author3=Nuclear Regulatory Commission |publisher=Nuclear Regulatory Commission |page=7-1 |year=2000 |quote=Sampling is the process of collecting a portion of an environmental medium as representative of the locally remaining medium. |accessdate=5 July 2018}} and can be performed manually by a person or by automatic process. Samples of material can be taken or provided for testing, analysis, investigation, quality control, demonstration, or trial use. Sometimes, sampling may be performed continuously.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWcNDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |title=Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management - 3: Site Assessment and Monitoring Tools |editor=Gruiz, K. |editor2=Meggyes, T. |editor3=Fenyvesi, É. |publisher=CRC Press |page=43 |year=2016 |isbn=9781315778761}}{{cite journal |title=Variations between Continuous and Spot-Sampling Techniques in Monitoring a Change in River-Water Quality |journal=Water and Environment Journal |author=Hazelton, C. |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=124–9 |year=1998 |doi=10.1111/j.1747-6593.1998.tb00161.x|s2cid=108508464 }}
Aliquot part
In science, a representative liquid sample taken from a larger amount of liquid is sometimes called an aliquot{{cite book |url=https://goldbook.iupac.org/html/A/A00218.html |chapter=aliquot |title=Compendium of Chemical Terminology |editor=McNaught, A.D. |editor2=Wilkinson, A. |publisher=Blackwell Scientific Publications |edition=2nd |page=A00218 |year=2008 |isbn=978-0967855097 |doi=10.1351/goldbook.A00218 |accessdate=5 July 2018}} or aliquot part where the sample is an exact divisor of the whole. For example, 10mL would be an aliquot part of a 100mL sample.
Sample characteristics
The material may be solid, liquid, gas, a substance with some intermediate characteristics such as gel or sputum, tissue, organism, or a combination of these. Even if a material sample is not countable as individual items, the quantity of the sample may still be describable in terms of its volume, mass, size, or other such dimensions. A solid sample can come in one or a few discrete pieces, or it can be fragmented, granular, or powdered.{{cite book |chapter=Chapter 1: Preparation of Liquid and Solid Samples |title=Handbook of Spectroscopy |author=Cullum, B.M. |author2=Vo-Dinh, T. |editor=Gauglitz, G. |editor2=Moore, D.S. |publisher=Wiley |edition=2nd, Enlarged |pages=3–14 |year=2014 |isbn=9783527654703 |doi=10.1002/9783527654703.ch1}} A section of a rod, wire, cord, sheeting, or tubing may be considered a sample. Samples that are not solid pieces are usually kept in containers.
Where goods are sold or supplied by reference to a sample, relevant sale of goods legislation may dictate the supplier's legal obligations in ensuring that the bulk of the goods corresponds with the goods comprising the sample, for example in the UK, the Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 15,UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54/section/15 Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 15], accessed 7 May 2023 the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, section 5,UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/29/section/5 Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, section 5], accessed 7 May 2023 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 13.UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/13 Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 13], accessed 7 May 2023