[becchino]

HELP me please..
what is the meaning of "about" in european pharmacopoeia??
Thanks

[kriggy]

You mean on this page?
http://www.edqm.eu/en/european-pharmacopoeia-8th-edition-1563.html

I think it could be read as "short information about European Pharmacopoeia"

[Arkcon]

The word "about" is a very common English word.  You will have to give the entire sentence, maybe more, for a remotely useful answer.  And I do mean remotely, because its almost as simple a word as a definite article like "the".

Now if someone who speaks French would just explain donc to me, we'll get along fine.

[becchino]

I'm sorry I said bad.

Ex:

... the retention time is about 1.3 minute... etc etc

[Hunter2]

HELP me please..
what is the meaning of "about" in european pharmacopoeia??
Thanks

It is the impressum.  The description.

[Hunter2]

I'm sorry I said bad.

Ex:

... the retention time is about 1.3 minute... etc etc

It means the retention time is close to 1.3 min. A little bit less or more.

[becchino]

Ok.. but...HOW LONG A little bit less or more.

1.2 is ok?
1.7 is ok?
0.6 is ok?

What is the tollerance of "about"?

[Dan]

It is not a precise term. About = approximately in this context. Only the person who wrote it knows the tolerance.

[Hunter2]

Ok.. but...HOW LONG A little bit less or more.

1.2 is ok?
1.7 is ok?
0.6 is ok?

What is the tollerance of "about"?

I would say neither nor of the above.  1.3 means   1.25 -1.34 is the range.

[mjc123]

I would agree with Dan. If it said "retention time is 1.3 min", that would imply a range of 1.25-1.34, because a value quoted to 1 d.p. cannot be more precise than this. But to say "about 1.3 min" implies less precision - but how much less is not specified.

[Arkcon]

I'm sorry I said bad.

Ex:

... the retention time is about 1.3 minute... etc etc

There have been some opinions so far, and I'm sorry we can't be more precise as to what "about" would mean here.  When someone gives a value "about" or "approximately", instead of giving a quantitative range, what they (should) mean is "it doesn't really matter how much."

In this case, the retention time is about 1.3.  If the run time is 5 minutes, then you should see the peak in the first third of the run.  The real concern is if the peak comes out much sooner or much later, then there is something wrong with the system.  The thing is, if you run a standard made of pure substance first, you will know what the correct elution time will be for your system.  Once you know that, it won't matter that the description was "about."  You'll know exactly when to expect it.

When I do a titration, I often add "about one or two drops of indicator".  So what if I add 1/2 or 1/4 of a drop?  That's not possible, so no on e worries about it.  What if I add 3 or 4 drops?  Nothing bad happens.  So what if I add 5 mL.  Well that may ruin the titration.  But I know better than to do that.