Chemistry Abbreviations Starting With the Letter P

Lead Chemical Element pb
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By
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Chemistry Expert
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
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.
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Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
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