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Language structure

BY VS. WITH (A METHOD OR A TOOL)#

  • Method of doing something expressed like this: by + Ving
e.g. By measuring the strength of the magnetic field that must be applied, NMR spectroscopy gives us information about the local environment of specific atoms in a molecule.
e.g. In biochemical research, for example, determining the composition of protein by comparing it against a database of known compounds.
e.g. Chromatography works by dividing the components of a mixture between two phases โ€“ a stationary phase and a mobile phase.
e.g. Modern breathalyzers calculate the percentage of ethanol in the breath by looking at the size of the absorption caused by the Cโ€“H bond stretch in the alcohol.
  • Instrument or tool for doing something expressed like this: with + a noun phrase

e.g. The relative abundances of the detected ions form a mass spectrum: a kind of molecular fingerprint that can be identified by a computer with a spectral database.