Title: minimum sample size
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - minimum sample size
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.08034
Status: current

Definition
Lower limit of sample size stipulated in documentation taken for chemical analysis.

Notes
1) Examples of documentation include a measurement procedure, product information sheets (see reference material), and reference material certificates.
2) Values associated with performance characteristics of a measurement procedure and the property values stated in documentation are rendered invalid if the minimum sample size is not taken.

Related Terms
- chemical analysis: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08004
- measurement procedure: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08028
- performance characteristics of a measurement procedure: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08094
- reference material certificates: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08117

Source
- PAC, 2021, 93, 997. 'Metrological and quality concepts in analytical chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 2021)' on page 1013 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0819)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08034/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08034/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08034/xml

Citation: Citation: 'minimum sample size' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.08034
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-18T19:04:46+00:00