Final answer:
Quantitative observations are measurements that include numbers and units, such as the melting point of sulfur at 115.21° Celsius or the solubility of table salt in water. They provide precise, objective data for scientific inquiry.
Step-by-step explanation:
Quantitative observations involve measuring or counting and are represented by both a number and a unit. An example of making a quantitative observation is noting that 'the melting point of crystalline sulfur is 115.21° Celsius' or that '35.9 grams of table salt dissolve in 100 grams of water at 20° Celsius'. These observations are based on counting or using instruments to measure quantities, which can then be expressed in numerical terms.
Quantitative observations are crucial for scientific analysis because they provide objective and precise data that can be analyzed statistically. For instance, during the study of dinosaur extinction, a significant quantitative observation was the discovery that iridium concentrations in sediments dating to 66 million years ago were 20-160 times higher than normal, a fact that helped support the hypothesis of a catastrophic event leading to the extinction.