I'm extracting some data from an older paper and I've run into some units that are, to me, a little obscure. At first I thought I had it figured out. Its nutrient data reported in y/mL (with the y being a 'gamma' symbol). After looking into it I found some information suggesting that gamma is equivalent to a microgram. Data reported in micrograms per mililiter made sense for what I was looking at and I moved on.
I have gotten to a new table in the paper with measurements reproted in my/ml (again, it is a 'gamma' not a y but I'm not sure how to insert the correct symbol here). If my previous assumption is correct then that means that this measurement is somehow milli-micrograms/milliter? I'm a little perplexed because I don't see that making sense.
Is anyone here familiar with these units?
The quantity being described is a “mass concentration,” whose unit is a unit of mass divided by a unit of volume.
y/mL and my/mL are both units of mass concentration but the latter unit is 1000 times smaller in magnitude than the former. Could it have been used to specify weaker concentrations? The conversion factor is simply:
1000 my/mL = 1 y/mL.
- Badges
- Science topic