Quantal
Adjective
Pronunciation
\KWAHN-tul\
Definition
1 - of, relating to,
or having only two experimental alternatives (such as dead or alive, all or
none)
2 - of or relating to a quantum or to quanta (as of energy
or a neurotransmitter)
Examples
"Many bioassays are based on quantal responses:
Challenge assays record whether the subjects are dead or alive (or moribund or
not moribund) at the end of the assay; seed-germination assays record whether
seeds germinate by the end of the assay." — Ann Yellowlees et al.,
BioScience, June 2013
"Suppose you shake a crib with a sleeping baby. If you
shake it hard, the baby always wakes up. However, if you shake it gently, the
baby might wake up. The waking up itself is a quantal event—the baby is either
awake or asleep—but the probability of this happening depends on how hard you
rock." — Sönke Johnsen, The Optics of Life: A Biologist's Guide to
Light in Nature, 2012
Did You Know?
In Latin, quantum is the neuter form of quantus, meaning
"how much?" Both of these forms played a role in the development of
quantal. The first sense of quantal, used in scientific experimentation to
refer to cases in which only one of two possible results occurs, derived from
quanti, the plural of quantus. (Quantus is also an ancestor of our noun
quantity.) The second sense of quantal is more directly related to Latin
quantum and the English noun quantum, which refers to the smallest possible
unit of a form of energy (such as light).
Test Your Memory
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