Minimizing the Fundamental Sampling Error in Sampling Protocols

The Fundamental Sampling Error FSE is the only error that is never zero because it is generated by the intrinsic heterogeneity of a particulate solid; furthermore, through comminution processes, the smaller the largest fragment size becomes, the larger the liberation factor. Fortunately, the factor d 3 is likely to decrease much faster than ℓ increases. Therefore, changing d through comminution can provide a means to minimize the variance of the Fundamental Sampling Error. In this chapter we review all the practical applications of Gy’s formula, used to produce sampling protocols in accordance with a carefully determined objective, and to evaluate the precision of a protocol used by others.