What do these symbols mean?

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What do these symbols mean?

I've searched on the web for some of these symbols but I don't know what they mean:

1) $m o l^{- 1}$ $mol^-1$
2) $d m^{- 3}$ $dm^-3$

I usually see $m o l^{- 1}$ $mol^-1$ represent "something per mole", but I am not 100% sure of this. If someone could confirm with me, that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, for $d m^{- 3}$ $dm^-3$ , I usually see this unit pop up for concentration questions. My question is, how do I say it? For example, if I am reading a presentation to my classmates, how would I say the concentration of this compound is 1 mol $d m^{- 3}$ $dm^-3$ ? If someone could also clarify this issue with me, I'd be greatly thankful.

Lastly, just out of curiosity are there any other abbreviations that I should be concerned about, for example, $u n i t^{- 2}$ $unit^-2$ , $u n i t^{- 4}$ $unit^-4$ , etc?

Thanks.

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Answer 1 · 2016-07-04T22:07:48

You are correct, $m o l^{- 1} = \frac{1}{m o l}$ $mol^(-1) = 1/(mol)$ or "per mole".

$d m$ $dm$ is a decimetre which is a unit of length. Cubing it gives a volume so $d m^{- 3} = \frac{1}{{(d m)}^{3}}$ $dm^(-3) = 1/((dm)^3)$ which is "per volume". You would say "moles per cubic decimetre". Incidentally, a cubic decimetre is the exact same volume as a litre, giving the unit for concentration as $m o l l^{- 1}$ $moll^(-1)$ ("moles per unit litre") which rolls of the tongue a little bit nicer.

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What do these symbols mean?

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