I am trying to calculate equations for a quiz and I am stuck on the equations involving a persons wieght and the medication dosage.
Example:
How many capsules , each containing 250 mg, are needed to provide 50mg/kg/day for 10 days for a person weighing 176 pounds.
I need to know how to calculate this so I can learn to do it on my own. Any help would be great thank you
2006-12-06 11:25:03 · 2 answers · asked by CookFrNW 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
Alright, let's work this out one step at a time ...
Person weighs 176 pounds, but our other units are metric, so we need to convert. Checking constants we see that 1.00000 Pound = 0.45359 Kilograms so
176 lbs * (.45359 kg/1 lb) gives us 79.83184 kgs
We're looking for 50mg/kg so ....
79.83184 kg * (50mg/1 kg) gives 3991.592 mgs for the daily dose
We have 250 mgs in each capsule so ...
3991.592 mg * (1 capsule / 250 mgs) is approximately equal to 16 capsules per day for the best approximation of the daily dosage ( since they won't perscribe a 15.966368 capsules)
We need to dispense a 10 day supply so ...
16 capsules/day * 10 days gives us 160 capsules.
I made sure to carry the units through for 2 reasons, it's a double check for errors and if your units match up it's not only easy to follow but practically solves itself.
2006-12-06 11:43:54 · answer #1 · answered by b_plenge 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
176 lb * kg/2.2lbs = 80 kg
50mg/kg/day * 80 kg * 10 days = 40,000 mg
40,000mg * capsule/250 mg = 160 capsules
Done.
2006-12-06 12:21:07 · answer #2 · answered by Jerry P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋