Defining our terms

Fourth, because of the need for the involvement of diverse groups, common language problems will develop. This is true even between seemingly like medically related specialties. Thus, it is important that we define our terms as we work with other colleagues in related fields. 

In terms of the point defect energies so defined, our stoichiometry-conserving defects have formation energies given by ... 

A question which has been keenly argued for a number of years is the following if it were possible continuously to vary one or more of the parameters determining the nature of a system such as a molecule or a crystal, say the effective nuclear charges, then would the transition from one extreme bond type to another take place continuously, or would it show discontinuities For example, are there possible all intermediate bond types between the pure ionic bond and the pure electron-pair bond With the development of our knowledge of the nature of the chemical bond it has become evident that this question and others like it cannot be answered categorically. It is necessary to define the terms used and to indicate the point of view adopted and then it may turn out, as with this question, that no statement of universal application can be made. 

C. THE FREEMAN- CARROIX METHOD APPT.TEn TO TGA DATA In this case, we define our equation in terms of weight, w ... 

Note that this Sc is defined in terms of r0 = 1.5 m. Calculating 8 for rG = 1.5 m and Too = 20 °C from our feedstock equation gives 6 = 1.9. Since the 8 for this condition is greater than the critical value of 1.8, we will have spontaneous ignition. 

To use a precise language properly, you must first define your terms once that s done, you can use the definition to avoid any further misunderstandings. There s no avoiding the possibility of mistakes with our dictionary definitions, but we can hope to make them as simple as possible and then get into the precise notation to deal with the complex relationships between the named things. 

The operational approach to the definition of fundamental concepts in science has been emphasized by Mach, Poincare, and Einstein and has been expressed in a very clear form by Bridgman [2]. (Operational definitions had been used implicitly much earlier than the twentieth century. Boyle, for example, defined a chemical element in terms of the experiments by which it might be recognized, in order to avoid the futile discussions of his predecessors, who identified elements with qualities or properties.) In this approach, a concept is defined in terms of a set of experimental or mental operations used to measure or to recognize the quantity The concept is synonymous with the corresponding set of operations (Bridgman). An operational definition frequently may fail to satisfy us that we know what the concept really is. The question of scientific reality has been explored by many scientists and philosophers and is one that every student should examine. However, in the operational approach, we are not concerned with whether our definition has told us what the concept really is what we need to know is how to measure it. The operational approach has been stated succinctly by Poincare in the course of a discussion of the concept of force ... 

We shall use probabilistic language to define the terms correlation and cooperativity. The probabilities pertaining to the various events are read from the appropriate terms in the GPF, which for our system is... 

Our chirality measure is defined in terms of the principal axes coordinates by... 

---