You are to give ampicillin, with a recommended dose of 45 mg/kg , to a child with a mass of 28 kg . If stock on hand is 250 mg/capsule, how many capsules should be given?

Answer 1

We will set this up as a dimensional analysis problem where we cancel out units going from left to right:

28 kg (45 mg/ 1 kg) (1 capsule/250 mg) = 5.04 capsules.

On academic questions, this will be rounded to 6 capsules. However, in the real world, since too much ampicillin could cause negative effects in the body, especially considering a child, five capsules will be given in addition to a 10 mg sample( 0.04 x 250 mg = 10 mg).