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What is wrong with percentages

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Concentration calculation

Concentration lectures what is wrong with percentages

Table of contents
What is concentration?
Mass percentage
ppm, ppb, ppt notation
Mass-volume percentage
Volume-volume percentage
What's wrong with %
Molar concentration
Normality
Molality
Molar fraction
Percentage to molarity
Percentage to molality
Concentration cheat sheet
Dilution and mixing
Concentration follies
Symbols used
Disclaimer

Apart from the remarks already done in the mass-volume

percentage and volume-volume percentage sections there are at
least two more reasons to use percent concentrations with
caution.

Concentration questions
Table of contents

Percent concentrations are regularly abused in several ways.

Solution labelled 5% could be prepared by mixing 5 g of substance
with 95 g of solvent - preferred, but almost never used method,
by taking 5 g of substance and filling it up to 100 mL (in which
case it is % w/v) or by taking 5g of substance and adding 100 mL
of solvent. To make things worse preparation of % w/v solutions
can be done either by taking 5 g of substance and filling it up to
100 mL, or by taking 5 g of substance, dissolving it in part of
solvent and filling it up to 100 mL then. 50% v/v solution is
usually made by mixing equal volumes of both liquids. In every
case final result is different, in every case concentration is - in
fact - unknown.

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Usually that's not an issue as the difference between real and assumed concentration is below the level of
accuracy of solution preparation, but using such solutions you should be aware of the fact that their
composition may be far from what you are expecting.
Concentrations expressed as mass-volume and volume-volume percentages are also temperature
dependent, which lowers their already doubtful precision.
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