General chemistryLesson 4 of 4 in the course Composition of Substances and Solutions

Percentage, ppm, and ppb Concentration Units

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Molarity is not the only way to describe how much solute is present in a solution. Percentage units are especially useful for consumer products, liquid mixtures, and medical or biochemical solutions. This lesson compares mass percentage, volume percentage, and mass-volume percentage.

mass percentage=mass of componentmass of solution×100%\text{mass percentage} = \frac{\text{mass of component}}{\text{mass of solution}} \times 100\%

All flashcards

Mass percentage
Component mass divided by total solution mass, multiplied by 100%.
Volume percentage
Solute volume divided by total solution volume, multiplied by 100%.
Mass-volume percentage
Solute mass per solution volume; 0.9% (m/v) means 0.9 g per 100 mL.
Density in concentration calculations
Density converts between a solution's volume and mass.
Approximate mass concentration in dilute water
For dilute water solutions, 1 ppm is approximately 1 mg/kg, and 1 ppb is approximately 1 μg/kg.

Quiz questions

  1. What is the mass-based equivalence between ppm and ppb?Answer: 1 ppm equals 1000 ppb.
  2. A 50.0-g wastewater sample contains 0.48 mg of mercury. What is its mass-based mercury concentration?Answer: 9.6 ppm
  3. A 300-mL water sample has a density of approximately 1.00 g/mL. What is its approximate mass?Answer: 300 g
  4. A 300-g solution contains lead at 15 ppb by mass. Approximately how much lead does it contain?Answer: 4.5 μg
  5. In the mass-based definition of ppb, what multiplies the solute-to-solution mass ratio?Answer: 10910^9

Based on Chemistry 2e by Paul Flowers, Klaus Theopold, Richard Langley, William R. Robinson, PhD (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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