Chemistry Abbreviations Starting With the Letter P

Lead Chemical Element pb
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by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
Updated February 28, 2019

Chemistry abbreviations and acronyms are common in all fields of science. This collection offers common abbreviations and acronyms beginning with the letter P used in chemistry and chemical engineering.

  • P - Peta
  • P - Phosphorus
  • p - pico
  • P - Pressure
  • P - Proton
  • PA - Phosphatidic Acid
  • Pa - Pascal
  • Pa - Protactinium
  • PA - Proton affinity
  • PA # - PolyAmide polymer number
  • PAA - PolyAcrylic Acid
  • PABA - ParaAminoBenzoic Acid
  • PAC - Pharmaceutically Active Compound
  • PAC - Polycyclic Aromatic Content
  • PAC - Powdered Activated Carbon
  • PAEK - Polyaryletherketone
  • PAGE - PolyAcrylamide Gel Electrophoresis
  • PAH - Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon
  • PAI - PolyAmide Imide
  • PAO - PolyAlphaOlefin
  • PASA - PolyAmide, Semi-Aromatic
  • Pb - Lead
  • PB - PolyButylene
  • PBB - PolyBrominated Biphenyl
  • PBD - PolyButaDiene
  • PBI - PolyBenzImidazole
  • PBN - PolyButylene Naphthalate
  • PBS - Phosphate Buffered Saline
  • PBT - PolyButylene Terephthalate
  • PC - PolyCarbonate
  • PC - Pyruvate Carboxylase
  • PCA - Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid
  • PCC - Pyridine Chloro Chromate
  • PCE - Tetrachloroethylene
  • PCR - Polymerase chain reaction
  • PCV - Pressure control valve
  • Pd - Palladium
  • PD - Positive displacement
  • PD - Potential difference
  • PE - PhycoErythrin
  • PE - Polyethylene
  • PE - Potential energy
  • PEA - PolyEster Amine
  • PEEK - PolyEtherEtherKetone
  • PEG - PolyEthylene Glycol
  • PEK - Poly Ether Ketone
  • PEL - Permissible exposure limit
  • PERC - Tetrachloroethylene
  • PES - PolyEtherSulfone
  • PET - Polyethylene Terephthalate
  • PETP - Polyethylene terephthalate
  • PEX - Cross-linked PolyEthylene
  • PFC - Perfluorocarbon
  • pg - picogram
  • PG - Propylene Glycol
  • PG - Prostaglandin
  • PGA - 3-PhosphoGlyceric Acid
  • PGA - PolyGlutamic Acid
  • PGE - Platinum group elements
  • PGM - Platinum group metals
  • pH - measurement of H+ ions in aqueous solution
  • PH - Phenol functional group
  • PHA - PolyHydroxyAlkanoate
  • PHB - PolyHydroxyButyrate
  • PHC - Petroleum HydroCarbon
  • PHMB - PolyHexaMethyleneBiguanide
  • PHT - PHThalate
  • PI - Phosphate Ion
  • PI - PolyImide
  • PIB - PolyIsoButylene
  • pK - Measurement of the dissociation constant
  • PLA - Polymerized Lactic Acid
  • PLC - PhosphoLipase-C
  • PM3 - Parameterized Model number 3
  • PM10 - Particulates smaller than 10 μm.
  • PM - Particulate Matter
  • PM - Photo Multiplier
  • pm - picometer
  • PM - Plasma Membrane
  • PM - Powder Metallurgy
  • Pm - Promethium
  • PMA - PhosphoMolybdic Acid
  • PMA - PolyMethyl Acrylate
  • PMID - PubMed IDentifier
  • PMMA - PolyMethylMethAcrylate
  • PMO - PolyMethylene Oxide
  • PNPA - PolyNucleotide Phosphorylase A
  • PNPB - PolyNucleotide Phosphorylase B
  • Po - Polonium
  • POC - Polar organic contaminant
  • pOH - Measurement of OH- ions in aqueous solution
  • POL - Petroleum, oils, and lubricants
  • POP - Persistent organic pollutant
  • PORC - Porcelain
  • PPA -PhenylPropanolAmine
  • PPA - PolyPhthalAmide
  • PPB - Parts per billion
  • PPM - Parts per million
  • PPO - PolyPhenylene Oxide
  • PPS - PolyPhenylene Sulfide
  • PPT - Parts per trillion
  • PPT - PolyPyrimidine Tract
  • PPT - Precipitate
  • Pr - Praseodymium
  • PRV - Pressure relief valve
  • PSI - Pounds per square inch
  • PSV - Pressure safety valve
  • Pt - Platinum
  • PTFE - PolyTetraFluoroEthylene
  • Pu - Plutonium
  • PU - PolyUrethane
  • PV - Parity Violation
  • PV - Pressure Volume
  • PVC - PolyVinyl Chloride
  • PVT - Pressure, volume, temperature
  • PXY - Para-XYlene