10/9/2014 How It Looks From Here: How To Convert To and From Parts-Per-Million (ppm)

http://how-it-looks.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-convert-to-and-from-parts-per.html 1/6
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Friday, July 30, 2010
How To Convert To and From Parts-Per-Million (ppm)
Parts-per million (ppm) is a common quantity used in many areas of math and
science. It can be somewhat difficult for some to understand because it is not a true
unit. In fact, ppm is a unitless quantity. It is analogous to percent. Percent can refer
to just about anything. Percent means part-per-hundred, per cent (cent meaning
hundred). ppm is an exactly analogous quantity, but it is one part per million instead
of one part per hundred. ppm is a ratio between two numbers that have the same
units. Consider the example of a 5% sales tax. For every hundred dollars I spend, I
must pay 5 dollars in sales tax. So:
5 dollars/100 dollars = 5%
I would much rather pay a 5 ppm sales tax:
5 dollars/10
6
dollars = 5 ppm
We do not usually refer to money in ppm, but we could. Ppm is more often found as a
concentration, for example, ppm by mass or ppm by volume (sometimes referred to as
ppmv). In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ppm can be used to describe the
amount of chemical shift in frequency (Hz/MHz). This post focuses on the use of
ppm as a measure of concentration.
Parts-Per-Million By Volume (ppmv)
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Parts-per-million by volume is a common way of expressing a concentration in the
gas phase. Gases are miscible and, in general, once allowed to come to equilibrium a
gas is homogeneous, in other words its constituents are equally mixed. The SI unit of
volume is the cubic meter (m
3
). Suppose a constituent of a gaseous mixture is at a
concentration of 1 ppm. If one were to separate the mixture into its components, and
measure the volume of each component, there would be 1 m
3
of the gas of interest for
every 10
6
m
3
of the mixture.
1 m
3
constituent/10
6
m
3
of the mixture = 1 ppm
The Ideal Gas Law
To fully appreciate the value of such a ratio, one needs to consider what happens
when the pressure or temperature changes. The ideal gas law (which is extremely
accurate at atmospheric and lower pressures) states:
PV = nRT
in which p is the pressure, V is the volume, n is the number of moles (proportional to
the number of molecules), R is a constant called the universal gas constant, and T is
the temperature. All quantities are in SI units.
Alternatively:
V = nRT/P
Now consider a trace gas in a mixture. Let V
1
be the volume of the trace gas and V
T
be the total volume of the mixture. If we measure the concentration in ppmv we are
expressing the concentration as a ratio of volumes.
V
1
/V
T
= n
1
RT
1
P
T
/n
T
RT
T
P
1
Consider now that the gas mixture is at the same temperature and pressure. Notice
that temperature and pressure divide out. If we express a concentration in ppmv, we
can change the pressure or the temperature of the mixture and not change the value of
the ratio.
V
1
/V
T
= n
1
/n
T
This feature can be very useful in the atmosphere, where pressure and temperature
change. Sometimes gas phase concentration is measure in milligrams per cubic
meter( mg/m
3
). Although such units can also be useful, the expression is not
insensitive to pressure and temperature. If I have a sample of gas, and I reduce the
pressure of the gas, its volume will expand. The mass of the gas sample, however, is
independent of pressure and does not change. Therefore the same gas mixture at a
lower pressure will have a lower amount of a trace gas expressed in mg/m
3
, whereas
its concentration measured in ppm remains unchanged.
Converting Between mg/m
3
and ppm
Sometimes it is important to be able to convert between the units mg/m
3
and ppmv.
To make such a conversion it is important to know some things about the situation; so
it is useful to use a concrete example. Suppose the concentration of carbon dioxide in
air is 380 ppmv, and we want to express this number in mg/m
3
at a pressure of 1
atmosphere (101,325 Pa) and a temperature of 298.15 K. The starting place is the
definition of ppmv:

380 ppmv CO
2
= 380 x 10
-6
m
3
CO
2
/ 1 m
3
air.
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10/9/2014 How It Looks From Here: How To Convert To and From Parts-Per-Million (ppm)
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Posted by Rich at 2:23 PM
Labels: Chemistry, Climate Science, Physics, Units
The volume of air is already in the correct units; so one only needs to convert the
volume of CO
2
to mg and the answer presents itself. If one knows how many moles
of CO
2
are present, it is easy to convert moles to mass. Again, I rearrange the ideal
gas law:
n = PV/RT
Making sure that everything is in SI units:
n = (101,325)(380 x 10
-6
)/(8.31441)(298.15)
Also consider:
(Mass of CO
2
in grams) = n * (molecular mass of CO
2
in grams)
The molecular mass is simply the sum of the atomic masses (12.01 + 16.00 + 16.00 =
44.01 grams)
Mass of CO
2
in grams = (44.01)(101,325)(380 x 10
-6
)/(8.31441)(298.15) = 0.684
g
So, at 1 atm and 298.15 K,
380 ppm CO
2
= 684 mg/m
3
CO
2

*** Exercise for the Reader: Convert 21.2 mg/m
3
of ammonia gas (NH
3
) at a
temperature of 288K and a pressure of 100,001 Pa to ppm ***If you have
difficulties, state them in the comments, and I will help.
Parts-Per-Million By Mass
In liquids, it is common to use ppm by mass as a concentration. In general the
calculations are a lot easier than in the gas phase.
1 ppm solute = 10
-6
kg solute / 1 kg solution = 1 mg solute / 1 kg solution
There is a very convenient way to do this calculation in dilute solutions of water. The
density of water is 1 kg/liter (there is a small variation with temperature, but I neglect
that here. Moreover, in dilute aqueous solutions most of the mass is from water:
1 ppm solute = 1 mg solute / 1 kg solution 1 mg solute/1 kg water = 1 mg
solute/1 liter water
It is possible to be more accurate by correcting by the known or measured density of
the solution.
Recommend this on Google
15 comments:
Anonymous said...
Hi, I have difficulties understanding something. You explained how to obtain ppmv
to mg/m3. But I need to know how you convert say 50 ppm concentration of CO2
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10/9/2014 How It Looks From Here: How To Convert To and From Parts-Per-Million (ppm)
http://how-it-looks.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-convert-to-and-from-parts-per.html 4/6
captured in a static gas chamber of volume 0.0029 m3 into another unit say g/day, if
suppose that CO2 evolved after 5 minutes? Thanks in advance!
BTW, I see that the conversion factor as 1.96 from quick google search but
plugging in the pv = nrt values won't give me that number 1.96. How's that factor
1.96 calculated for CO2?
gatoratanu@gmail.com
December 27, 2012 at 12:09 PM
Rich said...
It is not 100% clear to me what you are trying to calculate, for example, the
temperature of your gas cell matters. Also, what was the initial concentration of
CO2? On the other hand, it sounds suspiciously like a homework problem. If it is a
homework problem, you will have to calculate it yourself.
December 31, 2012 at 10:41 AM
daniel said...
Can you please give me the answer for that Exercise for the reader. I'm trying to
calculate it, but i don't know if i'm getting it right. Thanks.
March 16, 2013 at 5:10 PM
Rich said...
Take it piece by piece. What would be the volume of 21.2 mg of NH3 at a
temperature of 288K and a pressure of 100,001?
PV=nRT; so V=nRT/P. You know R, T, and P; so you have to convert mass to
moles.
What is the molecular mass of NH3?
March 21, 2013 at 8:39 PM
Anonymous said...
30ppmv
July 18, 2013 at 2:05 AM
AndersHenneberg said...
Excellent! Thank you very much for this explanation! Helped me alot
October 7, 2013 at 3:45 AM
Kurt Beba said...
Those with experience cranking out calculations of this nature will be able to
identify which R is being used. Most of us do not fall into that category, however. I
am a visual learner and a big fan of unit factoring; not only to ensure my answers
are in the correct units, but also to make sense of what I am calculating.
It is good practice to state which R is being used (some people may not even know
there are several different Rs which can be applied to the universal gas law), and
clearly state the units.
February 16, 2014 at 3:38 AM
Rich said...
As stated in the article, "All quantities are in SI units." You are right that not
everyone may understand what that means, but I have to start somewhere. I guess I
will change that sentence to a link.
February 22, 2014 at 1:38 PM
Anonymous said...
10/9/2014 How It Looks From Here: How To Convert To and From Parts-Per-Million (ppm)
http://how-it-looks.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-convert-to-and-from-parts-per.html 5/6
Nice Article Rich - well said... I was coming at this from a different angle and a
large source of my confusion was recognizing I was dealing with a unit-less
measure. Though not ALWAYS the case with ppm it was in this instance. Thanks!
April 4, 2014 at 2:30 AM
Eswara said...
June 11, 2014 at 3:24 AM
Eswara said...
The simpler approach is here..
To find concentration at state 2 given parameters of state 1 and state 2 and
concentration at state 1, apply the formula.
C2 = C1 (P2 x T1)/(P1 x T2)
Concentration at a state 2 = concentration at state 1 corrected by pressures and
temperature as shown. This can be worked from the basic gas laws
P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2
The second equation is --
conc (mg/m3) = conc(ppm)x gas density x ((21-O2 refer)/(21-O2))
the correction of oxygen reference is required as only measurements at same
oxygen values must be compared.
If the measurements and conversions are at same O2 levels then, this equation boils
down to,
Conc (mg/m3) = conc(ppm) x gas density
for example,
100 (mg/m3) of carbon monoxide =
1.15 (gas density) X conc (ppm)
which gives
Conc(ppm) = 86.96 ppm.
June 11, 2014 at 3:26 AM
Anonymous said...
A 12.0 liter sample of waste air from a smelter process was collected at 25 degree C
and 1.00 atm pressure, and sulfur dioxide was removed. After SO2 removal, the
volume of the air sample was 11.50 liters. What was the percentage by weight of
SO2 in the original sample?
July 6, 2014 at 12:04 AM
Anonymous said...
A 12.0 liter sample of waste air from a smelter process was collected at 25 degree C
and 1.00 atm pressure, and sulfur dioxide was removed. After SO2 removal, the
volume of the air sample was 11.50 liters. What was the percentage by weight of
SO2 in the original sample?
July 6, 2014 at 12:05 AM
Anonymous said...
How much is 30 ppm of CH4 in water expressed in ppmv?
I have been trying to understand the differences between ppm and ppmv, as far I
can see ppmv has something to do with volume but how do you convert between
the two?
July 11, 2014 at 3:16 AM
Rich said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
10/9/2014 How It Looks From Here: How To Convert To and From Parts-Per-Million (ppm)
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Anonymous #1,
Looks like a homework problem. You will have to do your own homework.
Anonymous #2,
Same.
Anonymous #3,
Normally gases and vapor are measured by ppm by volume (ppmv), and liquids by
mass. For a gas or a vapor it is possible to convert to mass just by converting
volume to mass. For a liquid to convert to ppmv, it's a tricky issue, and I'm not sure
why anyone would report a liquid contaminant in ppmv.
July 12, 2014 at 9:33 AM
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