Medical Drugs

When a certain medical drug is administered to a patient, the number of milligrams remaining in the
patient’s bloodstream after t hours is modeled by D(t )=50 e−0.2 t.

This problem is an example of an exponential function since the given base is e, which is constant, and
variable t is the exponent.

Question: How many milligrams of the drug remain in the patient’s bloodstream after 5 hours?

Solution:

D(t )=50 e−0.2 t

D(5)=50 e−0.2 (5 )

D(5)=50 e−1
D(5)=50 (0.3678794412)
D(5)=18.39397206
The remaining drug in the patient’s bloodstream after 5 hours is 18.39 mg.