Quote:
Originally Posted by turtile
Your original post stated potassium with the symbol K in parenthesis. K is the symbol for the element potassium which still exists next to potash in your updated post.
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That's true, it is the standard abuse of notation in agricultural publications and products. I have here a 25-lb bag of water soluble fertilizer: on the cover the ad copy says "... the NPK proportions of 15-5-15 are excellent ..." and on the back the Guaranteed Analysis gets the chemistry correct by listing proportions of N, P205, and K20. I have agricultural extension publications from Cal Poly SLO, UC Davis, and UF which discuss requirements for "phosphate (P)" and "potash (K)". They do this because that is what the intended audience (farmers) will understand.
A long time ago I tried to enforce my ideas of strict adherence to notation in the world of mathematics and physics. I especially became frustrated with the abuse of calories, Calories, c, C, kcal, etc. -- especially in biology and dietary publications. I finally gave it all up with a good laugh when a colleague pointed out to me that in dietary publications:
c = calories at the speed of light