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Glite Dictionary
picogram

picogram

1 6.6
A very small unit of mass equal to one trillionth of a gram
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪkəˌɡræm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : picogramo
  • The laboratory detected only 5 picograms of toxic substance in the water sample.

Examples

  • And that one has these are picograms of DNA in a haploid nucleus.

  • The maximum safe body burden of Po-210 is only seven picograms.

    Blog text (21)

  • Although there are historical and geographic differences in background exposure, a worldwide Toxic Equivalent Concentration (TEq) was determined to be in a range from 20-90 picograms per day. Id. at 3-25.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Scientists discovered that a single cell can contain about 50 picograms of RNA.

  • Accurate measurements can detect picograms of chemicals in a complex mixture.

How Heavy

gram
  • Specialized
268 1.0
milligram
  • Specialized
142 2.3
microgram
  • Specialized
9 3.0
nanogram
  • Specialized
2 6.7
picogram
  • Specialized
1 6.6

Surface Forms

picogram singular
picograms plural

Morphology

picogram = gram (transparent) = pico + gram + pico

The SI prefix pico- meaning 10^-12 combines with 'gram' in a regular, productive way to form the unit.

Etymology

Picogram combines the scientific prefix pico- meaning 'one trillionth' and gram meaning 'a unit of mass', so a picogram is 'one trillionth of a gram'.