Ratio and Proportion

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Percent concentration expression

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Since all percentages are ratios of parts per hundred, ratio strength is
another way for expressing the percentage strength of solution or liquid
preparation. E.g. 10% means 10 parts per 100 or 10:100 is equal in ratio
strength 1:10.

When a ratio strength (e.g. 1:1000) is used to designate a concentration, it is to be

interpreted as follows:

1. For solid in liquid: 1 g of a solute in 1000 ml of of solution or liquid

preparation.

2. For liquid in liquid: 1 mL of a constituent in 1000 ml of solution or liquid

preparation.

3. For solid in solid: 1 g of a constituent in 1000 g of the mixture.

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Practice problems:
1- If 4 g sucrose are dissolved in enough water to make 250 ml of solution, what
is the concentration in terms of % w/v of the solution?

2-An injection contains 40mg pentobarbital sodium in each milliliter of solution.

What is the concentration in terms of %w/v of the solution?

3-How many grams of zinc chloride should be used in preparing 5L of the mouth
wash containing 0.1% w/v of zinc chloride?

4- A pharmacist dispenses 180 prescriptions per day. How many more

prescriptions does he need to dispense each day to bring a 15% increase?

5- If an ophthalmic solution contains 10 mg of pilocarpine in each milliliter of

solution, how many milliliters of solution would be needed to deliver 0.5 mg of
pilocarpine?

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6- A cough syrup contains 5 mg of brompheniramine maleate in each 5 ml dose.
How many milligrams of brompheniramine maleate would be contained in a 120
ml container of the syrup?

7-What is the percentage strength, expressed as %w/w of a solution prepared by

dissolving 60 g of potassium chloride in 150 ml water?

8- How many grams of antipyrine should be used in preparing 5%(w/v) of a 60

ml solution of antipyrine?

9-How many milligrams of a drug should be used in preparing 5 L of a 0.01 %

(w/v) drug solution?

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10- How many liters of 2% w/v iodine tincture can be made from 108 g of
iodine?

11- If a physician orders 25 mg of a drug for a patient, how many milliliters of a

2.5% w/v solution of the drug should be used?

12- Convert the following ratio strengths to percent strength.

a) 1:5000
b) 1:750

13- Convert the following percent strengths to ratio strength.

a) 0.025%
b) 1.00%

14- Calculate ratio strength (v/v) of solution containing 5 mL of an active

ingredient in 3.84 L solution?