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  • Answered
    These are very technical phrases. They seem to mean the same thing. 'characteristcs' and 'properties' here don't seem to have any difference. As chemistry terms, they just refer to things such as acidity, melting and boiling points, reactions with other compounds, form (powder, crystals), etc. You say you regularly encounter them in your work (presumably medicines). I would guess that the information for the medicine/substance either talks about properties OR characteristics, not both, which would suggest they have the same meaning. If you find a medicine/substance which talks about BOTH characteristics AND properties, that would suggest they are different in meaning, in which case you could try posting what each one says to help us understand the difference.
    0 voted
    March 2, 2011
    0
  • Answered
    When used as synonyms, the difference is 'but' is informal and used in spoken English, 'however' is formal and used in written English. Punctuation is also different ('I'd like to, but I can't' and 'I'd like to; however, I can't'). There is no other real difference if they are used as synonyms.
    0 voted
    March 2, 2011
    0
  • Answered
    When used as synonyms, the difference is 'but' is informal and used in spoken English, 'however' is formal and used in written English. Punctuation is also different ('I'd like to, but I can't' and 'I'd like to; however, I can't'). There is no other real difference if they are used as synonyms.
    0 voted
    March 2, 2011
    0