ABSTRACT
The analytical chemist is keenly aware that the measurement step wherein the analyte is quantified sits at the end of an essential manipulative sequence. All analytical procedures begin with a sampling step designed to represent the concentration of some analyte or set of analytes in a laboratory-sized sample in the same manner as they occur in some larger, macrosized entity. Any modern discussion of materials sampling must acknowledge the theoretical and semi-empirical treatments that have emerged from the minerals and ores industries. One area of trace analyte molten metal sampling that has grown considerably is delineated by those elements determined using thermal evolution techniques. Perhaps the most challenging form of solid metal sampling is for scrap analysis; in many metal industries some form of scrap constitutes a part, of the total furnace charge. Sampling particulates is a process highly dependent upon mixing and pouring operations which for powders are strongly affected by the density, size, and shape of the particles.
