Parts-per notation
In science and engineering, the parts-per notation is a set of pseudo-units to describe the small values of miscellaneous dimensionless quantities, e.g. mole fraction or mass fraction.
Since these fractions are quantity-per-quantity measures, they are pure numbers with no associated units of measurement. Commonly used are
- parts-per-million - ppm, 10−6
- parts-per-billion - ppb, 10−9
- parts-per-trillion - ppt, 10−12
- parts-per-quadrillion - ppq, 10−15
This notation is not part of the International System of Units - SI system and its meaning is ambiguous.