What is the Abbreviation for Potassium?

How do you abbreviate potassium? The most common way to abbreviate potassium is its symbol on the period table.

  • K
  • K+

For example,

  • Chemical Element K+

For those who aren’t familiar, K is the symbol for potassium in the period table of elements.

In some casual settings, potassium is sometimes abbreviated as pot.

For example,

  • His pot. levels are low.

When to Use This Abbreviation

This abbreviation is uncommon outside of scientific and medical usage. You might abbreviate the word potassium to pot. on a lab chart or research paper.

Outside of professional use, the word is not abbreviated in general prose.

What Does Potassium Mean?

definition of potassiumDefinition of Potassium: Potassium is defined as the chemical element of atomic 19, a soft silvery-white reactive metal of the alkali metal group.

For example,

  • The ER doctor indicated that my potassium level was low.
  • Imagine, for instance, the paper ribbon to be soaked in a solution of iodide of potassium and a light contact spring made to press continuously on its surface as it is pulled forward by the mechanism.

The word potassium functions as a noun in the sentence.

Outside Examples of Potassium

  • abbreviation of potassium abbreviationFor example, a scientist in one lab was working on a molecule that is key to kidney functioning, by transporting sodium, potassium and chloride ions between cells. –Houston Chronicle
  • Every night for six years he was hooked up to a dialysis machine that ran with solution and had to keep a strict diet free of potassium –no orange juice, no tomatoes, no bananas, broccoli and many more foods he couldn’t eat. –The New Haven Register

Summary: Potassium Abbreviation

There are two abbreviations of potassium: pot. and K+. To make the abbreviation pot. plural, simply add on an “s.” The second abbreviation, K+, would not be pluralized in its scientific/medical application. Interesting side note: the plural of the singular “potassium” is “potassia.”

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