A loading dose of acetylcysteine is 8 grams. How many ml of diluent is needed to achieve a 1:4 concentration?

To achieve a 1:4 concentration of acetylcysteine with a loading dose of 8 grams, we must understand the concept of concentration ratios. A 1:4 concentration means there is 1 part of the drug to 4 parts of the diluent. This indicates that for every 1 gram of acetylcysteine, there will be 4 grams of diluent.

In this specific scenario, since the loading dose is 8 grams of acetylcysteine, we will calculate the amount of diluent needed to achieve the desired concentration.

1. The total parts in a 1:4 solution is 1 (drug) + 4 (diluent) = 5 parts.

2. If we have 8 grams of acetylcysteine (1 part), we can calculate the required amount of diluent (4 parts) by using the ratio:

• Diluent needed = (4 parts / 1 part) × 8 grams of acetylcysteine

• This results in 32 grams of diluent.

Next, since the diluent is typically measured in milliliters rather than grams, we can apply the understanding that for many diluents,