In the Classroom
Appropriate Use of Blanks, Standards, and Controls
in Chemical Measurements
Mark F. Vitha*
Department of Chemistry, Drake University, Des Moines, IA 50311; *mark.vitha@drake.edu
Peter W. Carr
Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Gary A. Mabbott
Department of Chemistry, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105
Great satisfaction is derived from conducting successful
experiments. This article, the main body of which can be
found in the Supplemental Material,W teaches students how
to make reliable measurements that contribute to successful
experiments. We offer this article for faculty to share with
their students as a way to introduce them to the importance
of questioning one’s results and to discuss with them how
the use of controlled experiments can answer those questions.
While it is written primarily for beginning research students,
we note that it is also appropriate for students in laboratory
courses.
Specifically, we address the differences between and
proper use of controls, blanks, standards, dummy analyses,
and system suitability checks and how these are used to guard
against systematic bias in measurements. In the article, mea-
surements related to simple structure elucidation and con-
centration determinations are used to exemplify the use of
these techniques to increase confidence, setting aside the
larger issues related to designing complex series of experiments
aimed at verifying or contradicting theories. We also provide
case studies that show the systematic incorporation of these
methods into relatively simple experiments to provide the stu-
dents with some concrete ways of understanding their appli-
cation.
Controls, Blanks, Standards,
Dummy Analyses, and System Suitability Checks
The article emphasizes that when making a measure-
ment, the running of a dummy analysis, a blank sample, a
set of standards, and a control sample will greatly increase
your confidence in your measurements, especially if you have
never before analyzed that type of sample or are using an in-
strument that is new to you. We define each of these con-
cepts and differentiate their use in validating a chemical
measurement. In this way, the article is meant to serve all
disciplines of chemistry, not just analytical chemistry where
these concepts tend to be traditionally taught.
To provide a flavor of what is in the article and how the
confidence-building techniques are defined and differentiated,
we offer this statement that comes at the end of our discus-
sion of those techniques: “In summary, dummy analyses
check for signals arising from effects not related to your
sample matrix or analyte. Blanks are used to find signals, if
any, that arise from the matrix itself rather than from the
analyte. Thus, dummy analyses and blanks highlight poten-
tial interferences that could overlap or mask the signal of the
www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 82 No. 6 June 2005
W
analyte. Standards and calibrants are used to train the sys-
tem and measure the response behavior of the instrument.
Spiked samples are useful for checking matrix effects on sig-
nal sensitivity. Controls provide confidence that the analyti-
cal method is working well or detect instances in which an
analytical method does not generate accurate results. System
suitability checks make sure that the apparatus you are using
is behaving consistently over time and providing accurate
answers for known test mixtures. All of these techniques must
be rationally built into experimental protocols to generate
reliable measurements.” We strongly encourage the incorpora-
tion of these methods into undergraduate laboratory experiments
in all disciplines, both for their pedagogical value in developing
a sense of healthy skepticism regarding scientific measurements
and to increase a student’s confidence in his/her ability to obtain
“correct” results.
Case Studies
Following the discussion of the controls, blanks, stan-
dards, and dummy analyses, examples of their use in specific
case studies are provided. The case studies begin by expand-
ing a commonplace scenario presented by Silberberg (1)
(troubleshooting a malfunctioning stereo system) to illustrate
that the same familiar thought processes that we employ in
everyday, nonscience problem solving can be applied in sci-
ence. We then discuss two examples of experiments and mea-
surements routinely made in undergraduate laboratory
exercises, specifically pH and UV–visible measurements, fol-
lowed by two less familiar but equally relevant examples, in-
cluding one dealing with the elucidation of organic reaction
mechanisms (2).
The case studies allow students to see how these tech-
niques can be incorporated into their experimental design in
order to greatly improve the reliability of their data. They
are meant to hint at the design of experimental protocols that
incorporate the techniques discussed above. While a com-
plete discussion of experimental design would be too exten-
sive for this article, multiple references to more complete
treatments are cited.
Enjoyment of Science
We conclude the article by asserting once again that con-
ducting successful experiments provides great satisfaction and
that science, like art and music, is a creative human endeavor.
We therefore recommend that students read some accounts
• Journal of Chemical Education 901
 In the Classroom

about and by scientists such as Roald Hoffman’s The Same W

Supplemental Material
and Not the Same (2), Dubos’ biography of Louis Pasteur (3),
James Watson’s The Double Helix (4), and Richard Feynman’s The main body of this article is available in this issue of
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (5). As we state in the JCE Online.
article “these books are inspiring and unabashedly underscore
the excitement generated by uncovering the secrets of nature.” Literature Cited

Conclusion 1. Silberberg, M. S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter

We have attempted to provide a single, concise resource
for faculty to use with beginning research students and in
laboratory courses dealing with the definitions of and differ-
ences between controls, blanks, standards, dummy analyses,
and system suitability checks. We encourage you to down-
load the full article on JCE Online and distribute it to your
research and laboratory students, manipulating it in ways that
suit your specific needs. The training and grounding of stu-
dents in the fundamental procedures for making reliable mea-
surements is critically important in all areas of chemistry, and
we hope this article contributes to that grounding.
and Change, 2nd ed.; McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.: New
York, 2000.
2. Hoffman, R. The Same and Not the Same; Columbia Univer-
sity Press: New York, 1995.
3. Dubos, R. J. Louis Pasteur: Free Lance of Science; Da Capo
Press: New York, 1986.
4. Watson, J. D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Dis-
covery of the Structure of DNA; Simon and Schuster: New York,
1968.
5. Feynman, R. P. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out; Robbins,
J., Ed.; Perseus Publishing: Cambridge, MA, 1999; Chapters
1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 13.

902 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 82 No. 6 June 2005 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org