Given: Drug medications are often prescribed on the basis of body mass. the adult dosages of elixophylin, a drug used to treat asthma, is 6mg/kg of body mass.
To find: The dosage amount for a person weighing 160 lb.
Method: Unitary method of proportions
Solution:
First we'll convert the weight of person from imperial unit to metric unit.
1 pound = 0.45 kilograms
160 pounds = 0.45 x 160 = 72 kg
∴ The weight of person in kilograms is 72 kg.
Now, a elixophylin dosage of 6 mg is administered to 1 kg body mass.
For 72 kg body mass, dosage will be,
= 432 mg
∴ The person of 160 lb body weight will receive 432 mg of elixophylin dosage.