Well…. I know there are many more types then the four I listed, but the whole point was to understand four basic ones and get a general idea of their meanings and how they would be applied in real life.
1.) Quantitative would be to find out how much of a substance is present, and would be applied in the example above as a way to see how much of the contaminant is in the water.
2.) Qualitative would be to identify substances, and would be applied in the example as a way to identify the contaminant.
3.) Characterization would be to identify chemical and physical properties, so it would be applied in the example above to see what the contaminant can do if it did spread and how it would affect various things such as organisms and the atmosphere.
4.) I still have a bit of trouble understanding fundamental analysis. As I think of it right now, it is a type of analysis used to further understand the theories behind analytical methods. ( I.E understanding how certain analysis techniques work, etc) Is that what it is, or does it have a larger meaning?
I do understand that routine analysis would be categorized under chemical analysis, not analytical chemistry, so lets assume the contaminant is a foreign material that we have never created analysis methods for.