There are three common types of chemical reaction where normality is used as a measure of reactive species in solution:
*In acid-base chemistry, normality is used to express the concentration of hydronium ions (HO) or hydroxide ions (OH) in a solution. Here,  is an integer value. Each solute can produce one or more equivalents of reactive species when dissolved.
*In redox reactions, the equivalence factor describes the number of electrons that an oxidizing or reducing agent can accept or donate. Here,  can have a fractional (non-integer) value.
*In precipitation reactions, the equivalence factor measures the number of ions which will precipitate in a given reaction. Here,  is an integer value.
Normal concentration of an ionic solution is also related to conductivity (electrolytic) through the use of equivalent conductivity.