Dean: Can you cite any research, including your own, that supports your
statements above, or are your conclusions theoretical? Roger

  I too was confused for a time.

Possibly this will make it clearer, unless I am wrong, then it will be muddier.

  When I do ppm calculation for my nutrient solutions,

  I use WEIGHT, not ion  ( or particle ) count.

So...... the same ppm means ....... the same weight of sliver in solution, not the number of ions.

   ie,  One quart has 10 mcg   =   same ppm

          Smaller particles has many more ions per quart.

With the same weight, smaller particles means more particles and more surface area.

I could offer a bunch of numeric examples, but maybe this will be clear enough.

  Wayne