Sampling of Zero-Dimensional Lots: The Discrete Model

In Chapters 7 and 8 we looked at lots of particulate materials using a continuous model. This is equivalent to the examination of these lots with a wide-angle lens , without paying attention to small details. Now, we want to look at these details. We want to examine these lots with a magnifying lens . The continuous model and the discrete model are complementary models. Earlier in this book we defined a zero-dimensional lot as a set of discrete units, therefore, there is an equivalence between the notions of discrete model and of zero-dimensional lot . The discrete model of sampling we introduce in this chapter is applicable to all lots that can be reduced to a zero-dimensional model. This also applies to ores, vegetables, fruits, cereals, chemicals, wastes, and any of their constituents (e.g., minerals, solids in pulps or slurries, foreign materials in cereals, particle size distributions, moisture content, precious metals, etc.).