Milliekvivalens

Milliekvivalens is a unit of measurement used in chemistry and medicine. It represents the amount of a substance that will react with or be equivalent to one-thousandth of a mole of another substance. The term "ekvivalent" itself refers to the quantity of a substance that is involved in a specific chemical reaction. This concept is particularly useful when dealing with acids, bases, and oxidizing or reducing agents, where the number of reactive sites or the valence of the element is important.

In practical terms, milliekvivalens is often used to express the concentration of ions in solutions, especially in biological fluids like blood. For instance, the concentration of electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, or chloride is frequently reported in milliekvivalens per liter (mEq/L). This unit accounts for the charge of the ion, making it more relevant than molarity (moles per liter) in certain physiological contexts. A higher charge on an ion means fewer moles are needed to achieve the same chemical or physiological effect as a lower-charged ion. Therefore, using milliekvivalens helps to directly compare the relative chemical activity of different ions.