I know the ng means nanogram

But I’m curious how would I say the above line of 2.1 ng/kg

For context I got it from this paragraph

a lethal dose of 1.3–2.1 ng/kg in humans

Would it be

2.1 nanogram per kilogram?

Also if I wanted to write that as a decimal number how would i write that?

  • Ephera@lemmy.ml
    0·
    22 days ago

    Yeah, personally I would say that it’s per kg bodyweight.

    But I would also do my darndest to try write it, since “ng/kg” is kind of just nonsense. It makes it look like you could divide the grams out of that to get a fixed ratio, which is not correct at all.

    • towerful@programming.dev
      0·
      22 days ago

      But it is a fixed ratio.
      If it was in pounds, metric tons, moles or atomic mass units… It doesn’t change the ratio, the actual number.

      Would it be acceptable to drop the unit all together?
      “Lethal dose is 0.000000012 : 1 (substance : bodyweight)” (I made up the number).
      I’m not sure if there is a better way of writing the ratio.

      Could a fraction be more applicable?
      “lethal dose is 1/600000 of bodyweight”

      I’m sure it’s written as ng/kg to show the base units are the same, and the rest is just “fiddling” scientific notation