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A table in the book 'Chemistry NCEA Level 1' has 4 headings, the first of which is 'Volume (mL) ammonia solution provided (conc 2 g L-1)' Could someone please provide a comprehensive explanation of what the end part in brackets means. This is for a chemistry newbie, as you may gather from the book title. (this isn't really homework but I couldn't find a relevant tag. It's just someone studying chemistry for fun.)

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    $\begingroup$ Hi Mark, welcome to the site. I think that this question is too localized, as it would only apply to people using that book in the future. To answer the question, though, it's saying that the concentration of the ammonia solution is 2 grams per liter, so there are 2g of solute (ammonia) in 1 liter of solution (ammonia + water). $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Commented Jun 15, 2012 at 2:19
  • $\begingroup$ I don't understand why this has been closed. If someone without physics knowledge asked the meaning of e=mc2 would that be closed? If someone didn't know that 3n meant 3 times n would their question be closed? I don't know what 'conc 2 g L-1' means. Does the L-1 part mean L to the power of -1? Why does it not mean 2 times g times L-1? $\endgroup$
    – user338
    Commented Jun 15, 2012 at 6:39
  • $\begingroup$ I understand where you are coming from, but the answer to your first two questions is almost always, yes. These issues are known as "general reference" questions and can be looked up online. You are welcome to start a Meta discussion about why this question was closed, if you'd like. The "L-1" is an old typewriter notation that did indeed mean "L raised to the -1 power" or 1/L. If you peek ahead in your text to the section on concentration, it should answer that question and more. $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Commented Jun 15, 2012 at 8:47
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    $\begingroup$ @Mark: The L-1 is just a way to easily note the unit g/L (grams per liter). Regarding the closing of the question, we allow simple questions here. They just shouldn't be easily Googled. One major point to take into account while asking the question is this: "Will it be useful to future visitors/will it help them learn?". We are not one of those quick help fora, actually, we aren't a forum at all. We aim to make the Internet better by keeping good, conceptual questions that will be useful to others. Simple questions are OK as well, though they shouldn't be easily Googled. $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Jun 15, 2012 at 11:17
  • $\begingroup$ This question serves as a bad example for the homework policy. $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン ♦
    Commented Feb 23, 2016 at 9:27

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