Questions tagged [units]
For questions about the definition and usage of units of measurement.
132
questions
2
votes
1answer
60 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
$$\ln k ...
5
votes
1answer
174 views
Why the term 'unified' in “unified mass unit”? [closed]
Why different unit symbols - amu, u and dalton are used for representing atomic mass? And what does the term 'unified' mean in "unified mass unit"?
Thank you.
3
votes
2answers
191 views
Why is the equilibrium constant unitless?
I read that the equilibrium constant is unitless because the molar activities of each of the species are used in the equilibrium expression, not the actual concentrations themselves. I understand that....
4
votes
0answers
43 views
What does “at%” mean and how it differs from “mol%”?
Sorry if my question is a bit obvious, but for some reason I'm getting confused with the percentages in this question:
Concentration of $\ce{A}$ is $\pu{80 at\%}$ and concentration of $\ce{B}$ is $...
1
vote
3answers
41 views
Soil conductivity: How do I get a near equivalent between meq/100 g to mS/cm?
I have two soil reports, one that reports CEC as 45 meq/100 g and another that reports 6 mS/cm using 1:1 water soil.
I can see that the two are, if not apples and oranges, they are at best tangerines ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Can Rydberg constant be in joules?
In my textbook (Chemistry Part - I for Class XI published by NCERT), there is an equation for the energy of an electron in an energy state: $$E_n = -R_\mathrm H\left(\frac{1}{n^2}\right)$$ and there ...
1
vote
2answers
84 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
116 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
334 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
142 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
419 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
99 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
529 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
71 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
149 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
36 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
60 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
121 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
97 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
395 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
31 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
2k 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
52 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
56 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
699 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
66 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
121 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
7k 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 ...
2
votes
0answers
95 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
64 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?
1
vote
0answers
95 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
votes
0answers
849 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
85 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.
1
vote
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
119 views
Calculate pressure equilibrium constant from concentration equilibrium constant
$$\ce{N2(g) + 3H2 (g) -> 2NH3(g)}$$
Calculate $K_\mathrm p$ from $K_\mathrm c$, given that $K_\mathrm c = \pu{4.2 M^-2}$
and that there is 0.2 moles of $\ce{N2}$, 0.6 moles of $\ce{H2}$ and 0....
2
votes
2answers
314 views
What are the units that measure free energy?
Is it $\pu{kJ/mol}$? I have done problems and I always end up with these units, but is this correct?
0
votes
1answer
88 views
How isotopes atomic mass was defined?
So we say that 1 Amu (u) = 1/12 of the mass of a Carbon 12 atom.
Im not sure about this, but I believe that first we measured the mass of 1 carbon 12 atom (This includes the mass defects that occur ...
-2
votes
1answer
47 views
Convert the lowest IR wavelength to energy in J, frequency in Hz, and wavenumbers in cm-1
Look up the range of wavelengths in nm in the IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Convert the lowest IR wavelength to energy in J, frequency in Hz, and wavenumbers in cm-1.
I think I’m going ...
6
votes
2answers
254 views
In biochemistry, when do rate constant units matter in calculating free energy changes?
In my experience, it is always been the ratio of products to reactants that mattered, so as long as your units are consistent; what they are doesn't matter. However, an in-class problem today required ...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
What pressure units should be used when calculating electrode potential with Nernst equation?
Example 17: Calculate the electrode potential of given electrode
$$\ce{Pt,Cl2 (\pu{1.5 bar}) | 2 Cl- (\pu{0.01 M})}\,; \quad E^\circ_\ce{Cl2/2Cl-} = \pu{1.36 V}$$
Solution: The reaction of ...
3
votes
1answer
128 views
Order of the reaction between hemoglobin and oxygen
I have the reaction:
$$\ce{Hb + O2 <=>[$k$][$k'$] HbO2}$$
where $\ce{Hb}$ is hemoglobin, $k$ is the rate constant of the forward reaction, $k'$ is the rate constant of the inverse reaction. On ...
-5
votes
1answer
454 views
Concentration of ammonium phosphate if dissolved in water [closed]
If $\pu{2.54 mg}$ of ammonium phosphate is dissolved in enough water to make $\pu{300 mL}$ of the solution, what is the molar concentration of the solution?
The answer is $\pu{5.68e-5 mol L-1}$. ...
1
vote
1answer
87 views
Concentration of mercury in body
Symptoms of mercury poisoning become apparent after a person has accumulated $\pu{20 mg}$ of mercury. If a person ingested $\pu{30 mg}$ of mercury, what concentration of mercury in parts per million, ...
10
votes
2answers
6k views
What is the correct unit for the equilibrium constant?
I have the following equation
$$K_a = \dfrac{c\alpha^2}{1-\alpha},$$
with units $c= \pu{mol/cm^3}$ and $\alpha$ is the same. I'm not sure how to get the correct units for $K_a$. What I have come up ...
5
votes
1answer
121 views
Amount of substance expressed in yoctomole units
I stumbled upon a couple of papers where amounts were expressed in yoctomoles ([ymol], $\pu{10^{-24} mol}$) and I find it somewhat bothersome as 1 ymol would correspond to about 60% of atom/molecule/...
3
votes
0answers
39 views
Could the loss of mass in the kilogram be due to oxidation?
I was wondering about this. I have heard, and known for a while, that the famous and celebrated Prototype Kilogram - the lump of metal whose mass is used to define the standard mass scale worldwide - ...
6
votes
1answer
593 views
Does adding prefixes to SI units make them no longer SI units?
Our chemistry professor said that "mg for mass, g/m3 for density, ms for time are all SI units".
I want to make sure now, even if we added a prefix to the unit, will it still be an SI unit?
