Quantitative factor

Entropy is often described as a measure of disorder or randomness. While useful, these terms are subjective and should be used cautiously. It is better to think about entropic changes in terms of the change in the number of microstates of the system. Microstates are different ways in which molecules can be distributed. An increase in the number of possible microstates (i.e., disorder) results in an increase of entropy. Entropy treats tine randomness factor quantitatively. Rudolf Clausius gave it the symbol S for no particular reason. In general, the more random the state, the larger the number of its possible microstates, the more probable the state, thus the greater its entropy. 

The quality of heat is defined as its maximum potential to perform work with respect to a defined environment. Usually, this is the environment within which the process takes place. The Carnot factor quantitatively expresses which fraction of heat is at most available for work. Heat in free fall from a higher to a lower temperature incurs a loss in this quality. The quality has vanished at T0, the temperature of the prevailing environment. Lost work can be identified with entropy generation in a simple relation. This relation appears to have a universal value. 

Although HPLC has superseded TLC in many application areas, conventional TLC plays a useful role where cost, rapidity, and simplicity are the overiding factors. Quantitative TLC has continued to grow in popularity. For in-depth discussions and additional references of the topics discussed in this chapter, the reader should refer to Planar Chromatography Reviews in Analytical Chemistry (years ending in even numbers) and CAM AG Bibliography Services. 

Most of the available information on settling concerns small laboratory units. In practice, settling basins and thickeners are of large size and are kept in continuous operation. Comings (1940) presented an excellent practical discussion of these and other factors affecting their operation. However, it remained for Kammermeyer (1941) to evaluate the importance of these factors quantitatively. 

One method used to describe the subsystem and its interactions is the P-Diagram, which maps the interfaces by blocking out the signal, the noise factors, the control factors, and the response interfaces, see Fig. 11.2. The P-diagram relates each of these factors quantitatively where possible and to such a degree of completeness that... 

In formulation studies, all the factors affecting the stability of the pharmaceutical product have to be considered. Because the stability of pharmaceuticals is generally affected by numerous and complex factors, quantitative analysis of the role of each would involve a very large and complex series of experiments. The effect of each individual factor would have to be tested under conditions in which all other factors are maintained constant. Factorial analysis attempts to minimize the number of experiments needed to get meaningful results and, therefore, to save time and labor. 

This is why no distinction is drawn here between qualitative and quantitative factors quantitative factors are treated in the same way as qualitative factors (and not the reverse - a mistake made by many users of factorial designs). 

The Debye-Waller factor quantitatively describes the decrease of the diffracted beam intensity due to thermal vibrations of the atoms in the lattice. As the temperature increases, the root-mean-square displacements of the atoms in the lattice become larger and the diffracted beam intensity decreases. The maximum intensity should be observed at 0 K. According to Eq. 4.11, the Debye-Waller factor for LEED and XRD is... 

In order to describe the relationship between responses and factors quantitatively, we will use mechanistic (physicochemical) or empirical models, for example, polynomial models. These mathematical models should be able to describe linear and curved response surfaces similarly. Curved dependences can be modeled if the factor levels have at least been investigated at three levels. 

These models form an element within the investment process and are applied before taking an investment decision for every individual corporate bond. The overall investment process starts by analysing country risk, industry risk, and the special business and financial risks of individual corporations. Apart from qualitative factors, quantitative factors are... 

The relative strengths of the halogen oxoacids depend on the eletronegativity and the oxidation state of the halogen. We consider these factors quantitatively in Chapter 18. 

Microorganism Age of the culture Resuscitating factor Quantitative characteristics ... 

The methodology followed here is based on the lead market concept elaborated on earlier. The study is an international comparison of lead market factors for the case of mobile telephony. It is examined whether the rank of adoption of the dominant design in mobile telephony is correlated with the degree of markedness of the lead market factors. For some lead market factors quantitative indicators could be found, for other factors the international comparison has to be qualitative. In addition, the roles of supply factors for the international diffusion of mobile telephony, such as technological knowledge leads and suppliers, are discussed. 

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