RE: are unadorned brackets always "concentration"?

Further to my previous reply. Concentration brackets can have superscript numbers or letters representing variables but not charges or counterions

Elaine

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From: Neil Soiffer<mailto:soiffer@alum.mit.edu>
Sent: 27 June 2022 08:07
To: Chemistry CG<mailto:public-chem-web-pub@w3.org>
Subject: are unadorned brackets always "concentration"?


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I thought that if there are unadorned square brackets (i.e., no sub or superscripts), then that means "concentration of...". However, on this wikipedia page<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSalt_metathesis_reaction%23Counterion_exchange&data=05%7C01%7Ce.a.moore%40open.ac.uk%7C3735dc752d434d9c7f0408da580bc3a9%7C0e2ed45596af4100bed3a8e5fd981685%7C0%7C0%7C637919104795553835%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=cdPDX4A6GotcSPwAkThx%2FpCOeLTRmHdJh9fvzkwgDqA%3D&reserved=0>, there are lots of examples of unadorned brackets. My knowledge of chemistry is limited, but to my eyes, these uses of brackets are not meant to be "concentration".

Are they just grouping symbols to indicate the counterion? If so, how do I distinguish between their use as grouping symbols and their use as concentration?

Thanks,

    Neil