equivalent weight

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. the combining power, especially in grams gram equivalent, of an element or compound, equivalent to hydrogen as a standard of 1.00797 or oxygen as a standard of 8; the atomic weight divided by the valence.

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equivalent weight British  

noun

1. Also called: gram equivalent.  the weight of an element or compound that will combine with or displace 8 grams of oxygen or 1.007 97 grams of hydrogen

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Etymology

Origin of equivalent weight

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

equivalent weight

In 2021, the company, according to its own annual report, used more than 750,000 metric tons of plastic containers for its products — the equivalent weight of 74 Eiffel Towers.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2023

“The training also encourages offices to use social media to communicate both hazards with equivalent weight, to make it clear that both threats are possible during an event,” Boustead said.

From Washington Post ● May 4, 2022

It's the equivalent weight of almost four London buses.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2019

The ordnance contains almost 19,000 pounds of Composition H6, an explosive compound that is roughly one-third stronger than an equivalent weight of TNT.

From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2017

Accurate determinations have since shown that the mass of an ion deposited by one electromagnetic unit of electricity, i.e. its electro-chemical equivalent, is 1.036×10-4×its chemical equivalent weight.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 8 "Conduction, Electric" by Various