Millimolarity

Millimolarity, often abbreviated as mM, is a unit of concentration in chemistry. It represents one-thousandth of a molar (M). A molar solution has one mole of a solute dissolved in one liter of solvent. Therefore, a millimolar solution has one millimole of solute dissolved in one liter of solvent. This is equivalent to one millimole of solute per milliliter of solvent, or one millimole of solute per cubic centimeter of solvent.

The millimolar unit is commonly used in various scientific disciplines, particularly in biology and medicine, where concentrations of substances in biological fluids and solutions are often quite dilute. For example, the concentration of ions in blood plasma or the concentration of drugs in a formulation might be expressed in millimolar units. Its advantage lies in simplifying the notation of small molar concentrations, avoiding the use of many trailing zeros or scientific notation with negative exponents.

The conversion between molarity and millimolarity is straightforward. To convert from molarity to millimolarity, multiply by 1000. For instance, 0.1 M is equal to 100 mM. Conversely, to convert from millimolarity to molarity, divide by 1000. Thus, 50 mM is equal to 0.050 M. Understanding this relationship is crucial for accurate calculations and interpretation of experimental results in fields that rely on concentration measurements.