The doctor orders a medication as #"5.00 mg/kg"# of body weight. The dosage the nurse gives the patient is #"425 mg"#. How much does the patient weigh in pounds?

Question

Owen Ambrose · Accepted Answer

The patient weighs #"187 lb"#.

Assumed/Known Medication mass/body mass: #"5.00mg/kg"# Dosage: #"425 mg"# #"1 kg"##=##"2.2 lb"# #425cancel "mg"xx(1"kg")/(5.00cancel "mg")="85 kg"# #85 cancel"kg"xx(2.2 "lb")/(1 cancel"kg") ="187 lb"#

Caleb Adams · Answer

Just over 187 lb

#M = D times W# where M is the medication mass in mg, D is the dose rate in mg per kg, and W is the weight of the patient in kg. Therefore #W = M/D# But you want the weight of the patient in lb, so you need to build in the conversion #lb = kg times 2.205#. Therefore the final equation is: #W = (M/D) times 2.205# Enter the values to obtain 187.43 pounds.

Naomi Aronson · Answer

#"187 lbs"#

To solve this one, you need to do a little more econverting.

You know that the drug dosage is set to #"5.00 mg/kg"# of body weight, and that you need to give the patient's weight in pounds.

Using the conversion factor, you can first change the dosage from milligrams per kilogram to milligrams per pound.

#"1 kg" ~= "2.2046 lbs"#

This indicates that you've

#5.00"mg"/color(red)(cancel(color(black)("kg"))) * (1color(red)(cancel(color(black)("kg"))))/"2.2046 lbs" = "2.268 mg/lbs"#

Therefore, if you give your patient 425 mg of the medication, his body weight must be 2.268 mg of the drug per pound of body weight.

#425color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mg"))) * "1 lbs"/(2.268color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mg")))) = "187.39 lbs"#

The number of sig figs you provided for the dosage and mass of drug administered, rounded to three, will be the answer.

#color(green)("187 lbs")#

Olivia Anton · Answer

undefined Patient weighs 85 kg.