The term used in NIST SP 811 for that quantity (mass per area) is areic
density.
I won't bothering to look for a citation just now, but I believe that
one often also encouters the term areal density for the same thing (in
physics texts, for example). Areal sounds better to my ears than areic,
but that's a personal view. Perhaps areal density would be better suited
to other ratios with area in the denominator, such as charge density
(electric charge per area): "Each plate of the capacitor is charged to
an areal density of 5 pc/m2." Again, this is merely my personal opinion;
NIST uses areic, not areal.
Jim
Pat Naughtin wrote:
>
> Dear Mark and All,
>
> The title on your posting, 'Paper weights' has a problem especially when you
> contradict yourself in the first line with 'paper mass'.
>
> Neither of these is correct. The physical quantity being measured is
> correctly described as 'mass divided by area'. The SI unit for 'mass
> divided by area' is 'kilogram per square metre' and a convenient submultiple
> is 'gram per square metre', with the symbol g/m2 (with the 2 as a
> superscript).
....
--
Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!"
James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/
10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
