PPM calculation. To calculate that number, you would take the number of non-conformances reported for the cards sold in December 2006 and divide by the number of cards sold in December 2006 and multiply by 1,000,000. You would not use non-conformances for cards sold in any other month. Since you did not list any non-conformances for the month.
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By Laurie Brenner
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Parts per million calculations are used for measuring small concentrations in a solution, solid and gas or the number of defects in manufacturing. The basic formula for PPM starts with dividing the weight or number of defects by the volume and then multiplying the result by 1,000,000. This formula is used by people in the agricultural industry for fertilizer calculations, by water treatment professionals, in swimming pool chlorine calculations, and in laboratories by chemists and others.
The Basic Formula
The basic formula is weight (or number of defects) divided by volume multiplied by 1,000,000 – or w/v x 1,000,000. For example, if you have 100 defective products in 10,000 manufactured pieces, divide 100 by 10,000 to arrive at the result of 0.01 or 1 percent of the total. Then, multiply 0.01 by 1,000,000 to achieve the answer of 10,000 defective parts per million parts produced.
Solid Calculations
To calculate the PPM of one solid mixed with another, you compare the mass of the two substances. Divide the mass of the first solid in milligrams by the mass of the second solid in kilograms. (A kilogram is one million milligrams.) Using the example of 200 mg of gold mixed with 2.5 kg of iron:
There are 80 parts of gold per million parts of iron in this example.
Liquid Calculations
For liquid calculations, use the formula ppm = pounds/1m gallons or ppm = milligrams/liter. (Where one liter is the volume equivalent of one kilogram.) In swimming pool chlorine calculations, for example, the parts per million are measured in milligrams of chlorine per liter of water. Using the example of 47 milligrams of chlorine in 17 liters of water:
There are 2.765 parts of chlorine per liter of water. This type of calculation allows you to measure liquid constituents in small amounts.
Water Quality and Treatment
The PPM calculation is used by water treatment professionals when adding chemicals to water to ensure it is safe to drink. The measurement is the mass of a chemical per unit volume of water. When you read a water treatment facility’s water quality reports, you might see ppm, mg/L or ug/L. The last item refers to the number of micrograms per a liter of water – 1 milligram = 1,000 micrograms.
Parts Per Billion
Sometimes the formula may be expressed in parts per billion instead of parts per million. In this example, 1 part per million = 1,000 parts per billion or 1PPM = 1,000 PPB. Another way to express PPM and PPB looks like this. PPM = (106) and PPB = (109) or (10^6) and (10^9).
Updated on: February 04, 2019
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PPM stands for 'parts per million' and is used to describe the amount of a certain chemicals in a substance. These measurements often are used by farmers to calculate the strength of fertilisers. For example, nitrogen is sold as part of a solid compound, but farmers need to make liquid fertilisers of different strengths, measured in PPM. PPM calculations also are used by government agencies to determine whether air, soil or water is polluted enough to be hazardous to human health. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intervenes when the amount of copper in water exceeds 1.3 PPM.
Determine the mass of the solvent in kilograms. If the solvent is water, 1 litre equals 1 kilogram. If you plan to dissolve fertiliser into 5 litres of water, the mass of your solvent would be 5 kilograms.
Determine the mass of the solute in milligrams. If the solute is part of a compound, determine how much of the compound is the solute. For example, if you add 10 grams of fertiliser that is 20 per cent nitrogen, multiply 1 gram times 0.2 (20 per cent) and you get 0.2 grams. To get from grams to milligrams, multiply by 1,000 and you get 200 milligrams.
Divide the mass of the solute in milligrams by the mass of the solvent in kilograms. In this example, divide 200 by 5 and you get 40 parts per million (PPM).
Find the volume of the solution. For example, if you were trying to determine the concentration of salt in water, determine how much water is in your container.
Remove the substance you are taking the concentration of from the solvent. The process will depend on the substance. For example, if you are trying to measure the concentration of salt in salt water, boil the water until only the salt remains.
Find the mass of the solute in milligrams. In this example, measure the mass of the salt crystals that are left.
Divide the mass of the solute in milligrams by the mass of the solvent in kilograms. For example, if you started with 2 litres of water and were left with 3 milligrams of salt, you would convert the volume of water to mass. Because the mass of 1 litre of water is 1 kilogram, your total mass would be 2 kilograms. Then divide 3 milligrams by 2 kilograms to get 1.5 parts per million.
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- Make sure you use kilograms for the solvent and milligrams for the solute or your parts per million concentration won't be accurate.
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