Questions tagged [units]
For questions about the definition and usage of units of measurement.
140
questions
-3
votes
1answer
23 views
What is the equivalence of 40 ppt to pg/mL? [closed]
Please help me converting 40 ppt to pg/mL. I have tried an online calculator and done it manually and there are differences. I`m aware that ppt can be used as parts per trillion or per thousand but I ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
Up to which dilution can one assume that 1 mg/l = 1 ppm?
For aqueous solutions it is often assumed that 1 milligram per liter equals 1 ppm. Are there any guidelines up to which concentration this shortcut is admissible?
Are there any formulas which ...
3
votes
3answers
476 views
Can I express the rate of a reaction as percent per second (%/s)?
Rate is calculated as change in concentration over change in time, so usually $\pu{M/s}$ $(\pu{mol L-1 s-1}).$
Say, I'm calculating it for $20\%$ solution of ammonium hydroxide, so my final rate is ...
4
votes
2answers
112 views
Regarding units of water potential and chemical potential
If water potential is nothing but the chemical potential of a given solution, then why do their units differ?
If the unit for the latter is taken as 'Energy per molecule' (which makes sense to me ...
1
vote
3answers
88 views
About the use of Pascal or atmosphere in chemistry
I was wondering if there are specific formulae in chemistry for which it is "compulsory" or convenient to use atmosphere (atm) rather than Pascal (or even mmHg) as a unit of measurement.
Of course ...
0
votes
1answer
31 views
What is the use of both mol and mass representing the same thing i.e. amount of something? [closed]
A mol is a unit but also has a magnitude. How can a unit have a magnitude? And if mole is used to measure an amount of substance than what does mass measure?
0
votes
1answer
72 views
Meaning of mass concentration “units” % m/v [closed]
In a saline solution that is 5.750% (m/v) potassium iodide $(\ce{KI}),$ there are:
a) 5.750 mL $\ce{KI}$ per 100.0 mL $\ce{H2O}$
b) 575.0 mg $\ce{KI}$ per 10.00 mL of $\ce{KI}$ solution
c) 5....
1
vote
0answers
17 views
Interlayer binding energy: how to convert to meV/Ų?
I've noticed that in most papers the interlayer binding energy is given in units of meV/Ų. But how do I get these units? Do I divide the interlayer binding energy I get by the area of my unit cell?
3
votes
1answer
69 views
How is the ln k term in the linearised Arrhenius equation acceptable?
In my syllabus we only study about rate laws under the topic "Rates of reactions", but as I was interested in it, I started to search about that topic. And then I found the Arrhenius equation
$$\ln k ...
5
votes
1answer
210 views
Why the term 'unified' in “unified mass unit”? [closed]
Why different unit symbols - amu, u and dalton are used for representing atomic mass? And what does the term 'unified' mean in "unified mass unit"?
Thank you.
3
votes
2answers
247 views
Why is the equilibrium constant unitless?
I read that the equilibrium constant is unitless because the molar activities of each of the species are used in the equilibrium expression, not the actual concentrations themselves. I understand that....
4
votes
0answers
73 views
What does “at%” mean and how it differs from “mol%”?
Sorry if my question is a bit obvious, but for some reason I'm getting confused with the percentages in this question:
Concentration of $\ce{A}$ is $\pu{80 at\%}$ and concentration of $\ce{B}$ is $...
1
vote
3answers
66 views
Soil conductivity: How do I get a near equivalent between meq/100 g to mS/cm?
I have two soil reports, one that reports CEC as 45 meq/100 g and another that reports 6 mS/cm using 1:1 water soil.
I can see that the two are, if not apples and oranges, they are at best tangerines ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Can Rydberg constant be in joules?
In my textbook (Chemistry Part - I for Class XI published by NCERT), there is an equation for the energy of an electron in an energy state: $$E_n = -R_\mathrm H\left(\frac{1}{n^2}\right)$$ and there ...
1
vote
2answers
171 views
How do I convert salinity measured in mg/L Cl into parts per thousand as NaCl?
I have collected water data using a refractometer that records salinity in ‰ (parts per thousand) as $\ce{NaCl}$. I want to compare my data to other data but every journal article I read has the ...
2
votes
2answers
131 views
How will the periodic table change due to redefinition of the kilogram (May 2019)?
The definition of a kilogram has recently been changed. What effect, if any, will this change have on data on the periodic table?
2
votes
1answer
357 views
Barron states that 4.18×10⁸ joules equal 1 kcal, is this correct?
Here is a paragraph in Barron's SAT chemistry prep book:
Work itself is measured in Joules, and so is energy. In some problems, however, energy may be expressed in kilocalories. The relationship ...
0
votes
2answers
312 views
How are lowercase k and uppercase K used in general chemistry courses? [closed]
Where do lowercase k and uppercase K make appearances in general chemistry, and what do they signify?
0
votes
2answers
953 views
How are lowercase m and uppercase M used in general chemistry courses? [closed]
Where do lowercase m and uppercase M make appearances in general chemistry, and what do they signify?
2
votes
1answer
145 views
IUPAC Recommendations for Concentration Units (ppb, ppm)
In a recent interesting post, (Is 1 ppb equal to 1 μg/kg?)
it was pointed out that IUPAC advises to abandon parts per million, parts per billion quantities and instead it suggests to employ micromole/ ...
15
votes
1answer
2k views
Is 1 ppb equal to 1 μg/kg?
In an article I recently submitted, a reviewer asked that I provide a concentration in μg/kg instead of ppb (parts per billion), and mentions that the later is not correct. I am not a chemist, and I ...
9
votes
2answers
531 views
How to determine omitted units in a publication
I have found a 1954 paper in J. Am. Chem. Soc. which gives various temperatures in degrees but does not specify units.
A snippet of the introduction is:
Titanium reacts appreciably with fluorine ...
1
vote
2answers
73 views
Does the prefix of an inverted unit also get inverted?
What is the energy of radiation that has a frequency of $\pu{2.51 \times 10^11 ms-1}$?
(a) $\pu{1.66 \times 10^-19 J}$ (supposedly correct)
(b) $\pu{1.66 \times 10^-22 J}$
(c) $\pu{7.92 \...
-1
votes
1answer
417 views
Standard litres to kg conversion for Hydrogen [closed]
When looking at hydrogen fuel tanks, they often give the capacity in terms of "standard litres". However, I can't find a definition of what this is.
I assumed this may mean a litre of hydrogen gas ...
0
votes
2answers
44 views
Unit analysis for neutralization reaction
What volume of $\pu{0.500 mol L-1}$ $\ce{HCl}$ (in $\pu{mL}$) is required to neutralize $\pu{2.02 g}$ of solid $\ce{NaOH}$ pellets?
So far I have tried regular unit analysis:
2.02 g NaOH * 1mol ...
0
votes
1answer
118 views
Types of concentration units
I would like to ask about a concentration unit.
What does it exactly mean when stock concentration of something is,
for example, 5X?
Thank you in advance!
-3
votes
2answers
193 views
What will be unit of volume in V=nRT/p if p is in Torr instead of atm? [closed]
$V=nRT/p$, where $n$ is amount of gas in $\mathrm{mol}$, $R$ is gas constant, $V$ is volume in $\pu{dm3}$, and $p$ is pressure in $\pu{atm}$.
What happens to $R$ if $p$ is in $\pu{Torr}$ instead of $...
-3
votes
1answer
100 views
How to actually calculate work from force times distance?
I understand that work = force $\cdot$ distance, but I'm not sure of the units and conversions to use.
What I know is that I have a piston head of area $\pu{28cm^2}$ (~$\pu{4.4in^2}$) traveling a ...
0
votes
3answers
481 views
Conversion from a PPB value to µg/m3 of Isobutylene
I have a quite simple problem, found a lot of information about it, but I am not sure anymore if I do my calculations right.
I own a sensor, which reports measurements in isobutylene units as PPB. So ...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
Combination of several unit symbols when finding new pressure from ideal gas law
As a car is driven, the tires heat up and the volume and the pressure change. Calculate the new pressure of a 35.0 L tire initially at 235 kPa that expands to 36.5 L when it heats up from 15.0 °C to ...
0
votes
0answers
65 views
Is the negative excess volume of ethanol/water the cause of my math error?
I have a binary mixture, say ethanol at $90\%wt$ ethanol, $10\%wt$ water. According to Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook 9th Ed., that mixture has a density of $0.81797g/cc$ (at $20^{\circ}C$). ...
-1
votes
3answers
4k views
What are the units of Kc and Kp?
They are both equilibrium constants as far as I know.
Kc is in terms of molarity and Kp is in terms of pressure. Also both of them are ratios of respective quantities [ ratio of molarity(s) in Kc and ...
0
votes
1answer
55 views
Confusion between moles and molarity units
I am a total newbie in the field and i would like some kind of guidance.
So, I have been recently given 2 datasets with measurements regarding several phospholipid fatty acids of plasma HDL. Both ...
-1
votes
1answer
22 views
Rate constant converion [closed]
I need to calculate the half life for a first order reaction for which I need the rate constant $k$. From literature I observed that for a very closely simulated experiment I obtained the numerical ...
0
votes
1answer
61 views
Converting pounds to grams [closed]
I wanted to figure out how many grams were to a lb and instead of looking it up I used my textbook and found 1 kg = 1000 g and 1 kg = 2.205 lb. I set up a cross multiplication equation to solve for x. ...
-2
votes
1answer
923 views
What does atm•L mean? [closed]
In my chemistry book I always see a dot for units. For example, atm•L. Does this mean “1 atm per Liter?” By Atm I mean atmospheric pressure, not atom.
4
votes
1answer
69 views
Is the kilogram still consistent with the old definition?
My old understanding was that a gram is the amount of mass in a cubic centimeter of water.
But then I recently learned that the second was redefined to be some 9 billion cycles of a Caesium atom. ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
Is it possible for me to derive Avogadro's number?
To my understanding the mole is the unit used to translate between mass on the atomic level and mass in the macro level, defined as the number of atoms in $12$ grams of Carbon-$12$, which apparently ...
25
votes
5answers
8k views
Why do we still need to know about the Rankine temperature scale?
I am learning process principles in chemical engineering and I was taught various temperature units like Fahrenheit, Celsius, Kelvin, and Rankine. I see the first three being used quite commonly, but ...
asked Jul 12 '18 at 0:26
Pritt says Reinstate Monica
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2
votes
0answers
97 views
Why was the unit micrometers spelled backwards in old research papers?
I have recently been doing a literature research project on polymers and have been reading a lot of papers from the 1950s and 1960s (mostly in American journals from American authors). I saw this ...
-1
votes
1answer
70 views
Units for density in nanorod image
I am counting the number of nanorods contained in a sample (see picture below). The length scale is 1 µm. What units does the density have? Is it µm-2?
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0answers
99 views
How to convert from ppm to ug/m3 in case of PMx?
For $\text{PM}_{10}$, $\text{PM}_{2.5}$ sensors, sensitivity, minimum and maximum recordable concentrations are generally expressed in $\pu{ppm}$ (parts per million) while legislation uses $\pu{\mu g /...
2
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0answers
1k views
Conversion of a permeability value from barrer to SI unit
I have done a permeability experiment on LDPE in the presence of air. At $\pu{30^\circ C}$, the permeability was found to be 1.846 barrer.
Now I am trying to apply this permeability value to a ...
1
vote
0answers
94 views
is rydberg constant and rydberg unit are same? [closed]
i want to ask a question that.is rydberg constant and rydberg unit are same. UNIT OF RYDBERG CONSTANT IS m^-1, right? Then what is rydberg unit.
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0answers
2k views
What really are the units of enthalpy change? [duplicate]
A reasonable definition of standard enthalpy change of formation would be:
'The enthalpy change when one mole of a compound is formed from its constituent elements under standard conditions'
...
1
vote
1answer
126 views
Calculate pressure equilibrium constant from concentration equilibrium constant
$$\ce{N2(g) + 3H2 (g) -> 2NH3(g)}$$
Calculate $K_\mathrm p$ from $K_\mathrm c$, given that $K_\mathrm c = \pu{4.2 M^-2}$
and that there is 0.2 moles of $\ce{N2}$, 0.6 moles of $\ce{H2}$ and 0....
2
votes
2answers
414 views
What are the units that measure free energy?
Is it $\pu{kJ/mol}$? I have done problems and I always end up with these units, but is this correct?
0
votes
1answer
94 views
How isotopes atomic mass was defined?
So we say that 1 Amu (u) = 1/12 of the mass of a Carbon 12 atom.
Im not sure about this, but I believe that first we measured the mass of 1 carbon 12 atom (This includes the mass defects that occur ...
-2
votes
1answer
49 views
Convert the lowest IR wavelength to energy in J, frequency in Hz, and wavenumbers in cm-1
Look up the range of wavelengths in nm in the IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Convert the lowest IR wavelength to energy in J, frequency in Hz, and wavenumbers in cm-1.
I think I’m going ...
6
votes
2answers
256 views
In biochemistry, when do rate constant units matter in calculating free energy changes?
In my experience, it is always been the ratio of products to reactants that mattered, so as long as your units are consistent; what they are doesn't matter. However, an in-class problem today required ...
