EmpeiriaChloride
Also known as
Cl
Cl⁻ inorganic ion
What this substance is
- formula
- Cl⁻
- mass
- 35.453 g/mol
- monoisotopic
- 34.9694
- charge
- -1
- nucleus
- 17 protons, 18 neutrons (35Cl)
- electrons
- 18: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶
- InChIKey
- VEXZGXHMUGYJMC-UHFFFAOYSA-M
- ChEBI
- CHEBI:17996
Drawn from ChEBI's own curated 2D drawing, accepted only after its InChIKey, formula and charge matched the ChEBI release. Nothing here is hand-entered. Two masses are given because they answer different questions: the average is natural-abundance weighted and drives unit conversion; the monoisotopic value uses only the commonest isotope of each element and is what mass spectrometry measures.
3D model · Chloride
A schematic atom: a nucleus of 17 protons and 18 neutrons (the most common isotope, 35Cl), inside its electron shells, 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶. The configuration matches the NIST Atomic Spectra Database ground state of Ar I, the neutral atom with the same 18 electrons (1S0). The cloud is drawn as nested spheres because that term is an S state: the electron density really is spherical. Not to scale: shells are spaced on a square-root scale so the inner ones stay visible, and the nucleus is magnified about ten-thousand-fold.
Reference ranges
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This open edition shows a range only where a public-domain or openly licensed source states one, and none does for this marker yet. Compare your result with the range printed on your own lab report.
How it is measured
In practice
A health worker takes a small blood sample from a vein in your arm with a needle. It usually takes less than five minutes. Some medicines can matter, so tell your provider what you take. Chloride can also be checked in a urine test.
Serum or lithium heparin plasma by venipuncture; other anticoagulants are not acceptable. Separated serum or plasma should be removed from cells within one hour; haemolysis does not interfere up to a high H index. Fasting is needed only if other tests on the sample require it. A urine chloride test may be added for more information.
Before the test
- Tell your provider about everything you take, but do not stop any medicine unless your provider tells you to.
- Fast (no food or drink) for several hours only if your provider has ordered other tests that need it.
Where: laboratory
Sources: Chloride Blood Test, MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine); NHANES 2017-2018 Laboratory Procedure Manual, Chloride (CDC National Center for Health Statistics) cited · not yet checked by a person
In the lab
Indirect ion-selective electrode
The machine waters the blood sample down, then dips in a sensor that only reacts to chloride. The sensor makes a tiny voltage, and the size of that voltage shows how much chloride is there.
The sample is pre-diluted by the analyser and chloride activity is measured as the potential that develops across a chloride-selective membrane relative to a reference electrode.
- Read by: Electrode potential (EMF) versus a reference electrode
What can throw it off
- Gross lipaemia (indirect ISE reads falsely low)
- Very high protein (indirect ISE reads falsely low)
Sources: Discrepancies in Electrolyte Measurements by Direct and Indirect Ion Selective Electrodes due to Interferences by Proteins and Lipids. J Lab Physicians 2020 (PMC7467836); NHANES 2017-2018 Laboratory Procedure Manual, Chloride, CDC/NCHS cited · not yet checked by a person
What it reports on
-
nephron tubule
regulated by
The kidneys get rid of extra chloride in urine, and the kidney tubules take chloride back into the blood.