I came across a unit of measure called a slyke in an esoteric journal
article relating to biochemistry. This is the first time I have seen
this unit used. Fortunately, the author provided this definition:
"A slyke is the number of micromoles of HCl added to 1 mL of test
solution to get a 7 to 6 pH change." The application of this unit is
used in measuring the buffer capacity of a test solution.
It has been a few decades since I worked in the field of analytical
chemistry. So I googled "slyke". (This was not an option when I last did
a titration!)
According to
http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictionary?slyke
the term is attributed to D.D. Van Slyke, U.S. Physician and chemist,
1883-1971. Mondofacto provided a slightly more general definition than
did the author mentioned in my first paragraph.
Amazingly, the unit did not show up in my favorite compendium of units,
provided by Professor Rowlett at UNC:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/
Therefore I have added him as an addressee here.
We've allowed the kat to come into our SI house. Let us not allow the
slyke to slither in.
Jim
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
