You're asked to add 15mEq of Potassium chloride per 100 mL of Normosol. Potassium chloride is available as 20

Question

mEq/10mls. The amount of Potassium chloride needed for a 3 L bag of Normosol would be what?

Answer 1

In your Normosol solution, you want it to be 15 mEq of potassium chloride.

In other words, 15 mEq per 100mL = 15/100 = 15%. The fact that we are using milliequivalents and equating it to mL has no effect on your calculation.

Currently, your solution is 20mEq / 10 mls. So, how much do we need to add to 3L?

3L = 3000 mL.

This will require 3000 / 100 = 30 x 15 = 450 mEq

450 / 3000 = .15

So, you add in 450 / 20 = 22.5 units.

22.5 x 10 mL = 225 mL

So, take out 225 mL of Normosol, add in 225 mL of Potassium chloride, and you will have a make up that is 15 mEq of Potassium chloride.

The other way to do it would be to add it in. However, if you simply add it:

You will have 450 mEq / 3225 mL which is less than 15 mEq.

You would need to add in approx two more units, giving you:

490 / 3445 mL which would yield just over 15 mEq.

Regards,

Mysstere