Parts-per notation

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(Redirected from
Parts per million
)
"Parts per billion" redirects here. For the film, see Parts per Billion.
Fluorescein aqueous solutions, diluted from 10,000 to 1 parts-per-million in intervals of 10 fold dilution. At 1 ppm the solution is a very pale yellow. As the concentration increases the colour becomes a more vibrant yellow, then orange, with the final 10,000 ppm a deep red colour.

In

units of measurement. Commonly used are parts-per-million (ppm, 10−6), parts-per-billion (ppb, 10−9), parts-per-trillion (ppt, 10−12) and parts-per-quadrillion (ppq, 10−15). This notation is not part of the International System of Units
(SI) system and its meaning is ambiguous.

Applications

Parts-per notation is often used describing dilute solutions in chemistry, for instance, the relative abundance of dissolved minerals or pollutants in water. The quantity "1 ppm" can be used for a mass fraction if a water-borne pollutant is present at one-millionth of a gram per gram of sample solution. When working with aqueous solutions, it is common to assume that the density of water is 1.00 g/mL. Therefore, it is common to equate 1 kilogram of water with 1 L of water. Consequently, 1 ppm corresponds to 1 mg/L and 1 ppb corresponds to 1 μg/L.

Similarly, parts-per notation is used also in

α = 1.2 ppm/°C". Parts-per notation is also employed to denote the change, stability, or uncertainty in measurements. For instance, the accuracy of land-survey distance measurements when using a laser rangefinder might be 1 millimeter per kilometer of distance; this could be expressed as "Accuracy = 1 ppm."[a]

Parts-per notations are all dimensionless quantities: in mathematical expressions, the units of measurement always cancel. In fractions like "2 nanometers per meter" (2 n m / m = 2 nano = 2×10−9 = 2 ppb = 2 × 0.000000001), so the

percent symbol (%), are used in regular prose (as opposed to mathematical expressions), they are still pure-number dimensionless quantities. However, they generally take the literal "parts per" meaning of a comparative ratio (e.g. "2 ppb" would generally be interpreted as "two parts in a billion parts").[1]

Parts-per notations may be expressed in terms of any unit of the same measure. For instance, the

m)/°C, or as 18.7 (μ in/in)/°C; the numeric value representing a relative proportion does not change with the adoption of a different unit of length.[b]
Similarly, a metering pump that injects a trace chemical into the main process line at the proportional flow rate Qp = 12 ppm, is doing so at a rate that may be expressed in a variety of volumetric units, including 125 μL/L, 125 μ gal / gal, 125 cm3/m3, etc.

In

Hz
/MHz). Parts-per notation gives a dimensionless quantity that does not depend on the instrument's field strength.

Parts-per expressions

1 of →
= ⭨
of ↓   		per
cent
(%) 		per
mille
(‰) 		per
10,000
(‱) 		per
100,000
(pcm) 		per
million
(ppm) 		per
billion
(ppb)
% 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001 10−7
‰ 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 10−6
‱ 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 10−5
pcm 1,000 100 10 1 0.1 0.0001
ppm 10,000 1,000 100 10 1 0.001
ppb 107 106 105 10,000 1,000 1
Visualisation of 1%, 1‰, 1‱, 1 pcm and 1 ppm as fractions of the large block (larger version)

  • One part per
    metric ton
    , expressed as g/t.

  • One part per billion (ppb) denotes one part per 1,000,000,000 (109) parts, and a value of 10−9. This is equivalent to about three seconds out of a century.

  • One part per trillion (ppt) denotes one part per 1,000,000,000,000 (1012) parts, and a value of 10−12. This is equivalent to about thirty seconds out of every million years.

  • One part per
    age of the Earth (4.5 billion years). Although relatively uncommon in analytical chemistry, measurements at the ppq level are sometimes performed.[3]

Criticism

Although the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (an international standards organization known also by its French-language initials BIPM) recognizes the use of parts-per notation, it is not formally part of the International System of Units (SI).[1] Note that although "percent" (%) is not formally part of the SI, both the BIPM and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) take the position that "in mathematical expressions, the internationally recognized symbol % (percent) may be used with the SI to represent the number 0.01" for dimensionless quantities.[1][4] According to IUPAP, "a continued source of annoyance to unit purists has been the continued use of percent, ppm, ppb, and ppt".[5] Although SI-compliant expressions should be used as an alternative, the parts-per notation remains nevertheless widely used in technical disciplines. The main problems with the parts-per notation are set out below.

Long and short scales

Main article: Long and short scales

Because the named numbers starting with a "billion" have different values in different countries, the BIPM suggests avoiding the use of "ppb" and "ppt" to prevent misunderstanding. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) takes the stringent position, stating that "the language-dependent terms [...] are not acceptable for use with the SI to express the values of quantities".[6]

Thousand vs. trillion

Although "ppt" usually means "parts per trillion", it occasionally means "parts per thousand". Unless the meaning of "ppt" is defined explicitly, it has to be determined from the context.[citation needed]

Mass fraction vs. mole fraction vs. volume fraction

Another problem of the parts-per notation is that it may refer to

CFC-11 in air. For volume fraction, the suffix "V" or "v" is sometimes appended to the parts-per notation (e.g. ppmV, ppbv, pptv).[8][9]
However, ppbv and pptv are also often used for mole fractions (which is identical to volume fraction only for ideal gases).

To distinguish the mass fraction from volume fraction or mole fraction, the letter "w" (standing for "weight") is sometimes added to the abbreviation (e.g. ppmw, ppbw).[10]

The usage of the parts-per notation is generally quite fixed within each specific branch of science, but often in a way that is inconsistent with its usage in other branches, leading some researchers to assume that their own usage (mass/mass, mol/mol, volume/volume, mass/volume, or others) is correct and that other usages are incorrect. This assumption sometimes leads them to not specify the details of their own usage in their publications, and others may therefore misinterpret their results. For example,

air) may use mass/volume. Unfortunatelly, many academic publications of otherwise excellent level fail to specify their use of the parts-per notation, which irritates some readers, especially those who are not experts in the particular fields in those publications, because parts-per-notation, without specifying what it stands for, can mean anything.[citation needed
]

SI-compliant expressions

SI-compliant units that can be used as alternatives are shown in the chart below. Expressions that the BIPM explicitly does not recognize as being suitable for denoting dimensionless quantities with the SI are marked with !.

Notations for dimensionless quantities
Measure SI
units 		Named
parts-per ratio
(short scale) 		Parts-per
abbreviation
or symbol 		Value in
scientific
notation
A
strain
of... 		2 cm/m 2 parts per hundred     2%[11] 2 × 10−2
A sensitivity of... 2 mV/V 2 parts per thousand 2 ‰ ! 2 × 10−3
A sensitivity of... 0.2 mV/V 2 parts per ten thousand 2 ‱ ! 2 × 10−4
A sensitivity of... 2 μV/V 2 parts per million 2 ppm 2 × 10−6
A sensitivity of... 2 nV/V 2 parts per billion ! 2 ppb ! 2 × 10−9
A sensitivity of... 2
p
V/V 		2 parts per trillion ! 2 ppt ! 2 × 10−12
A mass fraction of... 2 mg/kg 2 parts per million 2 ppm 2 × 10−6
A mass fraction of... 2 μg/kg 2 parts per billion ! 2 ppb ! 2 × 10−9
A mass fraction of... 2 ng/kg 2 parts per trillion ! 2 ppt ! 2 × 10−12
A mass fraction of... 2 pg/kg 2 parts per quadrillion ! 2 ppq ! 2 × 10−15
A volume fraction of... 5.2 μL/L 5.2 parts per million 5.2 ppm 5.2 × 10−6
A mole fraction of... 5.24 μmol/mol 5.24 parts per million 5.24 ppm 5.24 × 10−6
A mole fraction of... 5.24 nmol/mol 5.24 parts per billion ! 5.24 ppb ! 5.24 × 10−9
A mole fraction of... 5.24 pmol/mol 5.24 parts per trillion ! 5.24 ppt ! 5.24 × 10−12
A stability of... 1 (μA/A)/min 1 part per million per minute 1 ppm/min 1 × 10−6/min
A change of... 5 nΩ/Ω 5 parts per billion ! 5 ppb ! 5 × 10−9
An uncertainty of... 9 μg/kg 9 parts per billion ! 9 ppb ! 9 × 10−9
A shift of... 1 nm/m 1 part per billion ! 1 ppb ! 1 × 10−9
A strain of... 1 μm/m 1 part per million 1 ppm 1 × 10−6
A temperature coefficient of... 0.3 (μHz/Hz)/°C 0.3 part per million per °C 0.3 ppm/°C 0.3 × 10−6/°C
A frequency change of... 0.35 × 10−9 ƒ 0.35 part per billion ! 0.35 ppb ! 0.35 × 10−9

Note that the notations in the "SI units" column above are for the most part dimensionless quantities; that is, the units of measurement factor out in expressions like "1 nm/m" (1 nm/m =1 × 10−9) so the ratios are pure-number coefficients with values less than 1.

Uno (proposed dimensionless unit)

Because of the cumbersome nature of expressing certain dimensionless quantities per SI guidelines, the

International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) stated that the response to the proposal of the uno "had been almost entirely negative", and the principal proponent "recommended dropping the idea".[12] To date, the uno has not been adopted by any standards organization
.

Footnotes

  1. ^ This is a simplified explanation. Laser rangefinders typically have a measurement "granularity" of one to ten millimeters; thus, the complete specification for distance measurement accuracy might read as follows: "Accuracy ±(1 mm + 1 ppm)". Consequently, a distance measurement of only a few meters would still have an accuracy of ±1 mm in this example.
  2. ^ In the particular case of coefficient of thermal expansion, the change to inches (one of the U.S. customary units) is typically also accompanied by a change to degrees Fahrenheit. Since a Fahrenheit-sized interval of temperature is only  5 /9 that of a Celsius-sized interval, the value is typically expressed as 10.4 (μ in/in)/°F rather than 18.7 (μ in/in)/°C.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Stating values of dimensionless quantities, or quantities of dimension one". BIPM. § 5.3.7.
  2. ^ "Basis Points (BPS)". Corporate Finance Institute.
  3. ^ Measurements of dioxin are routinely made at the sub-ppq level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently sets a hard limit of 30 ppq for dioxin in drinking water but once recommended a voluntary limit of 0.013 ppq. Also, radioactive contaminants in drinking water, which are quantified by measuring their radiation, are often reported in terms of ppq; 0.013 ppq is equivalent to the thickness of a sheet of paper versus a journey of 146000 trips around the world. 
  4. ^ Quantities and units. Part 0: General principles, ISO 31-0:1992.
  5. ^ a b Petley, Brian W. (September 1998). "Report on Recent Committee Activities on Behalf of IUPAP to the 1999 IUPAP General Assembly". Archived from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  6. ^ NIST: Rules and Style Conventions for Expressing Values of Quantities: 7.10.3 ppm, ppb, and ppt.
  7. S2CID 7029702
    .
  8. Environmental Protection Agency
    .
  9. ISBN 0964458802
    .
  10. ^ "Units". Introduction to green engineering. University of Virginia. 23 August 2012.
  11. contrary to Wikipedia's Manual of Style
    , and is not observed here.
  12. ^ Consultative Committee for Units (13–14 May 2004). "Report of the 16th meeting (13–14 May 2004) to the International Committee for Weights and Measures, of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-10.

External links

Look up ppm, ppb, ppt, or ppq in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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