Pharmaceutical Calculations

1. How much Lidocaine is required to prepare 1 : 1000, 30 cc of solution

of Lidocaine?

a. 10 mg
b. 0.03 mg
c. 30 mg
d. 300 mg

2. How many cc of 75 % alcohol should mix with 10 % of 1000cc alcohol

to prepare 30% of 500cc alcohol solution?

a. 346.16 cc
b. 234.43 cc
c. 153.84 cc
d. 121.12 cc

3. If 60 gm of 1% hydrocortisone is mixed with 80 gm of 2.5% of

hydrocortisone, what is the % of hydrocortisone in final mixture?

a. 2.2 % w/w
b. 1.85 % w/w
c. 0.25 % w/w
d. 1.75 % w/w

4. If 1000 tablets of Risperdal 1 mg cost $ 2250 and % mark up on

prescription is 20, what would be the retail price of 30 tablets?

a. $ 150
b. $ 17
c. $ 500
d. $ 81

5. If the ratio of ionized to unionized species of drug is 103 and PKa =

2.2, what is the PH of the solution?

a. 2.2
b. 0.8
c. 5.2
d. 3.0

6. If dropper is calibrated to deliver 325 mg of iron sulfate in 0.6 cc and

adult dose of drug is 325 mg , what is the dose of a drug in cc for a 15
months-old infant?
a. 1.2 cc
b. 0.3 cc
c. 0.06 cc
d. 0.01 cc

7. If the dose of a drug is 10 mg/kg/day, how many 250 mg/100cc ready

infusion-bags require to fill above order? Patient's weight is 156 lbs.

a. 1 bag
b. 2 bags
c. 3 bags
d. 5 bags

8. How much of atropine is required to prepare 240cc in such way that

when 1 teaspoonful of the solution is diluted to 1 pint gives 1 in 500
solution?

a. 2.25 gm
b. 46.08 gm
c. 35.15 gm
d. 25.35 gm

9. How much sodium bicarbonate powder is required to prepare 240cc of

0.10 N solution of sodium bicarbonate?

a. 1.35 gm
b. 3.25 gm
c. 4.81 gm
d. 2.016 gm

10. How many meq of Na+ are present in 0.9% 250cc normal saline
solution? [Na+ = 23, Cl- = 35.5]

a. 23.12 meq
b. 15.17 meq
c. 53.15 meq
d. 38.46 meq

11. If the probability of success in Null hypothesis is 0.6, what is the

probability of failure?

a. 0.3
b. 0.9
c. 0.6
d. 0.4
12. How many grams of cocabutter are required to dispense 12
suppositories of tannic acid each weighing 2 gm and contain 400 mg of
tannic acid?

a. 21.23 gm
b. 18.67 gm
c. 14.12 gm
d. 13.25 gm

13. What is the "mode" or "median" of the following values?

120, 135, 140, 118, 175, 105, 115, 190

a. 135
b. 118
c. 127.5
d. 175

14. If the concentration of reactant M is half in a reaction that is third

order in M, by what factor will rate of reaction change?

a. 1/8 times
b. 1/4 times
c. 8 times
d. 4 times

15. What is the rate of constant after 90 minutes if the initial

concentration of drug is 500mg/cc and 50mg/cc after 90 minutes? (First
Order Kinetic)

a. 0.051 min-1
b. 0.025 min-1
c. 0.35 min-1
d. 0.86 min-1

16. If the total body clearance of the patient is 2100cc/hr and hepatic
clearance is 300cc /hr, what is the status of renal function in a patient?

a. Excellent
b. Normal
c. Moderately impaired
d. Severely impaired

17. How many grams of sodium chloride are required to prepare 250cc
of 1% boric acid solution to isotonic with eye tears?
FP of 1% boric acid = -0.29o C
FP of 1% sodium chloride = - 0.58oC
FP of blood = -0.52o C

a. 250 mg
b. 325 mg
c. 991 mg
d. 1221 mg

Answers

1. (c) 1: 1000 generally interprets as 1 gm in 1000cc solution. The

amount of lidocaine in 30cc of 1:1000 solution can be calculated as
follows:
= 30 x 1/1000 = 0.03 gm = 30 milligrams.

2. (c) To solve this type of problem, we need to use alligation method.

75 20 (75%)
30
10 45 (10%)
Total parts 65 (30%)
To prepare 65 (30%) 20 parts (75%) need
To prepare 500 (30%) ?
= 500 x 20/65 = 153.84cc (75%) alcohol
If we mixed 153.84 cc of 75% alcohol with 346.16cc [500cc - 153.84] of
10% alcohol, then we can get 500cc of 30% alcohol solution.

3.(b) Amount of Hydrocortisone in 60 gm, 1%

= 60/100 = 0.6 gm of hydrocortisone.
Amount of hydrocortisone in 80 gm, 2.5%
= 80 x 2.5/100 = 2 gm hydrocortisone
% amount of hydrocortisone in final mixture
= 100 x 2.6 (2gm + 0.6gm)/140 (80gm + 60gm)
= 1.85% w/w.

4. (d) 1000 tablets of Risperdal 1mg cost $ 2250. The % mark up on

prescription is 20%.
Therefore retail price of 1000 tablets would be
= 120 x 2250/100 = $ 2700 ** For each $ 100 cost = $120 retail cost**
Price for 30 tablet would be
= 30 x 2700/1000 = $ 81

5. (c) A pH of the solution can be found by the following formula:

pH = pKa + log ionize/unionize
= 2.2 + log 103
= 2.2 + 3
= 5.2

6. (c) 0.06cc. According to Fried’s rule

= age in months/150 x adult dose
= 15 x 325/150 = 32.5 mg
The dropper is calibrated to deliver 325 mg of Iron sulfate in 0.6 cc,
therefore
= 0.6 x 32.5/325 = 0.06cc

7. (c) Patient weight is 156 lbs, therefore weight in Kg would be 156/2.2 = 70.9 kg
A normal therapeutically recommended dose of drug is 10mg/kg/day, therefore
dose in above patient
= 10 x 70.9
= 709 mg
Each ready-infusion-bag contains 250 mg of drug, so number of bags require to
fill order would be
= 709/250 = 2.83 @ 3 bags.

8. (b) To solve this kind of problem, we must first find out the amount of drug
present in final solution.
Amount of atropine in 1 pint, 1 in 500 soln .
= 480 x 1 /500= 0.96 gm of atropine.
Now, 0.96 gm of drug must be present in 1 teaspoonful of drug solution, therefore
we can say
5cc (1 teaspoonful) contains 0.96 gm
240cc solution requires ?
= 240 x 0.96/5 = 46.08 gm of atropine.

9. (d) Gram equivalent weights of solute in 1 liter of solution is defined as

normality, therefore 1N solution of sodium bicarbonate will contain 84 gms in
1000 cc. We want to find quantity of sodium bicarbonate in 240cc, 0.1 N solution,
1 N solution contains 84 gm
0.1 N solution contains ?
= 0.1 x 84 = 8.4 gms/1000cc.
240cc solution will contain:
= 240 x 8.4/1000 = 2.016 gm of NaHCO3

10. (d) An amount of sodium chloride presents in 250 cc of 0.9% NaCl,

= 250 x 0.9/100 = 2.25 gm NaCl
Total equivalents Na+ = weight in gm
equivalent wt
= 2.25/58.5 = 0.03846 equivalents

11. (d) The sum of probability of success and failure would be equal to 1 in Null
hypothesis and can be expressed by following formula:
p + q = 1, where p = probability of success
q = probability of failure
q=1-p
= 1- 0.6
= 0.4

12. (b) We want to dispense 12 suppositories each weighing 2gm and containing
400mg of tannic acid,
Amount of coca butter = 2 gm x 12
= 24 gm
Amount of tannic acid = 0.4 gm x 12
= 4.8 gm.
Displacement value of tannic acid is 0.9, therefore
= 4.8/0.9 = 5.33 gm of base will displace
4.8 gm tannic acid = 5.33 gm cocabutter
Amount of coca butter = 24 gm - 5.33 gm
= 18.67 gm

13. (c) Median or Mode is generally expressed as a middle value of experiment,

if number of values are even, then average of middle values should be
considered. To find median or mode of experiment data, one should first arrange
the data in ascending or descending order.
In our example,
105, 115, 118, 120, 135, 140, 175, 190
= (120 + 135)/2 = 127.50

14. (a) The concentration of reactant M is half in a reaction that is third order in
kinetic,
dx/dt = k (a-x) (b-x) (c-x)
= k (a-x)3 where a=b=c
= k (M)3
now M = M/2
= k (M/2)3
= 1 /8 k (M)3

15. (b) 0.025 min-1

For the first order kinetic,
K = 2.303/t x log Co/C
= 2.303/90 x log 500/50
= 2.303/90 x log 10
= 0.025 min-1
16. (d) The status of renal function impairment can be expressed by creatinine
clearance.
ClT = ClH + ClR
where,
ClT = Total body clearance
ClH = Hepatic clearance
ClR = Renal clearance
2100 = 300 + ClR
ClR = 1800 ml/hr
= 30 ml/min
The normal creatinine clearance generally lies between 80 to 120 ml/min. A
creatinine clearance in patient is 30 ml/min which will be considered severely
impaired.

17. (c) Blood serum freezes at 0.520 C, and all solutions having this freezing
point are isotonic with blood serum. 0.9% sodium chloride have the same
freezing point that of blood serum.
FP provides by 1% Boric acid = -0.29o C
FP of blood = - 0.52o C
FP (needed) by NaCl = (0.52-0.29)
= 0.23o C
Now as we know that FP provides by 1% NaCl would be -0.58o C therefore one
can say,
For FP 0.58o needs 1 % NaCl
For FP 0.23o needs ?
= (0.23 x 1)/0.58 = 0.396 % NaCl
0.396 gm of NaCl/ 100cc.
The amount of NaCl needed for 250cc,
= (250 x 0.396)/100 = 0.991 gm NaCl = 991 mg

Sample Questions
1. Benzyl alcohol is classified as:

a. Emulsifying agent
b. Preservative
c. Diluent
d. Suspending agent

2. Cold cream is an example of:

a. Suspension
b. O/W emulsion
c. W/O emulsion
d. O/W/O emulsion

3. Which of the following is an example of an oligosaccharide?

a. Glucose
b. Sucrose
c. Starch
d. Glycogen

4. Which pyrimidine base is found only in RNA?

a. Cytosine
b. Thymine
c. Uracil
d. Adenine

5. The deviation of data from its mean is generally described by:

a. The average
b. The standard deviation
c. The precision
d. The accuracy

6. The reproducibility of results of a number of experiments is generally

known as:

a. Precision
b. Bias
c. Accuracy
d. Closelessness

7. Which of the following drugs is an angiotensin receptor antagonist ?

a. Lisinopril
b. Losartan
c. Methyldopa
d. Captopril

8. The rate of sedimentation is independent of :

a. The viscosity of dispersion medium.

b. The diameter of suspended particles.
c. The difference in densities between dispersed medium and dispersed
phase.
d. The lipophilic nature of particles.

9. A patient with acute hypercapnia should be treated with which of the

following ?

a. Doxapram
b. Dopamine
c. Disopyramide
d. Ipecac

10. Which of the following is NOT an example of a live attenuated

vaccine ?

a. Measles
b. Diphtheria
c. Rubella
d. Mumps

11. Corlopam (Feoldopam) is indicated for short-term (up to 48 hours)

management of severe hypertension. It is classified a(n)

a Alpha-1 receptors agonist.

b Beta-2 receptor agonist
c Dopamine-D1 receptor agonist
d Histamine-H1 receptor agonist

12. Which of the following ratios is the best indicator of a pharmacy’s

profitability ?

a. Net profit to net sales

b. Net profit to net worth
c. Net profit to total asset
d. Net profit to inventory

13. Which of the following ratios generally indicates the efficiency of a

pharmacy ?

a. Net profit to total assets.

b. Inventory turnover rate
c. Capitalization of net profit
d. Net profit to net sales

14. The molecular geometry of a CH4 (methane) molecule is:

a. Linear
b. Angular
c. Tetrahedral
d. Trigonal bipyramidal

15. The transfer of molecules from a solid phase directly to a vapor

phase is known as:

a. Melting
b. Sublimation
c. Freezing
d. Evaporation

16. As with most menopause symptoms, hot flashes are due to

a. Estrogen deficiency
b. Estrogen excess
c. Progesterone deficiency
d. Progesterone excess

17. The symptoms of BPH are caused by

a. pressure exerted by the prostate gland on urethra

b. relaxation of bladder muscles
c. shrinkage of the prostate gland
d. relaxation of the prostate gland muscles

18. Which of the following TCA is used in the treatment of nocturnal

enuresis?

a. Doxepine
b. Imipramine
c. Sertraline
d. Amoxapine

ANSWER 1
(b) Benzyl alcohol is classified as a preservative. Preservatives prevent the
growth of microorganisms and prevent deterioration of pharmaceutical dosage
forms. The ideal preservative must have the following characteristics:
It must be effective against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. It must be
stable for the lifetime of the product. It must be nontoxic, soluble, palatable in test
and odor and compatible with other ingredients in the formulation.
Commonly used preservatives:
* phenol * benzoic acid
* benzyl alcohol * chlorobutanol
* thiomersal * benzalkonium
* cresol * cetylpyridinium

ANSWER 2
(c) Cold cream is an example of W/O emulsion. It is a biphasic liquid dosage
form, in which disperse phase and the dispersion medium are liquids. Emulsion
is classified by five different categories:
Water in Oil (W/O) : Oil is continuous phase and water is a disperse phase, i.e.
lotions and liniments.
Oil in water (O/W) : Water is continuous phase and oil is a dispersed phase i.e.
most of the oral emulsions to unmask the oil taste of a medication.
Microemulsion : Unlike emulsions, microemulsion is a transparent with a small
particle size. It is believed to be thermodynamically stable. The particle size of
microemulsion lies between 10 to 200 nm. It is generally used for the
solubilization of the drug in pharmaceutical dosage form.
Nanoparticles : As the name suggests, the particle size of this kind of emulsion is
limited to nanograms. They are useful for the preparation of globulins and
toxoids. Tetanus toxoid and human immunoglobulin G are examples of
nanoparticles emulsion.
Multiple emulsions : Water in Oil in ware (W/O/W), Oil in water in Oil (O/W/O).
The w/o/w emulsions are generally more preferable for preparation of various
pharmaceutical dosage forms. They are used to prolong the duration of action of
various drugs, to localize drug in the body and to prepare cosmetics.

ANSWER 3
(b) Sucrose is an example of Oligosaccharide. It consists of a short chain of
monosaccharide. It consists of one molecule of glucose and one molecule of
fructose.Carbohydrates can be divided into three categories : Monosaccharide,
Oligosaccharide and Polysaccharide.

Monosaccharides : They are simple sugar such as glucose and fructose.

Oligosaccharides : Consists of a small chain of monosaccharides. i.e. sucrose,
maltose and lactose. They have to degraded into simple sugar in order to be
absorb from the intestine. Degradation of sucrose gives one molecule of glucose
and fructose, degradation of maltose gives two molecules of glucose, and
degradation of lactose gives each molecule of galactose and glucose.
Polysaccharides : They consist of long chains of monosaccharides i.e. starch and
glycogen

ANSWER 4
(c) Uracil. It is a pyrimidine base that only found on RNA.
Nucleotides are the building blocks of the nucleic acid. Purines and pyrimidines
bases bind to ribose to form nucleoside, which when binded to phosphoric acid
forms the nucleotides.
ANSWER 5
(b) The deviation of data from its mean or average is defined as standard
deviation. The reproducibility of the series of measurements is known as
precision. Accuracy is defined as closeness of measurements to the true value.
ANSWER 6
(a) Precision.

ANSWER 7
(b) Losartan.
ANSWER 8
(d) The relation of the rate of sedimentation with various parameters can be
expressed by Stoke’s law.
V = 2r2 (P1 - P2) g/9n

V = velocity of sedimentation in cm/sec

r = radius of the particles in cm
P1 = density of disperse phase in
g/cm3
P2 = density of dispersion medium in g/cm3
n = viscosity of dispersion medium
g = gravity acceleration 980.7 cm/sec2
The rate of sedimentation is independent of the lipophilic nature of particles.

ANSWER 9
(a) Doxapram is indicated as the respiratory stimulant agent in postanesthesia
and in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with acute hypercapnia.
The respiratory stimulant to effect of this agent is attributed to its ability to
stimulate the respiratory center in the medulla via carotid chemoreceptors.
Ipecac is widely used as an emetic in accidental poisoning. It is also used as an
expectorant.
Dopamine is formed by the decarboxylation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine
(DOPA). It is a precursor to noradrenalin and is also itself a neurotransmitter in
CNS. It is indicated for treatment of cardiac shock. The vasodilation offered by
dopamine is very important in drawing the blood in the kidney and small bowel
during an ischemic attack. The diuretic property of dopamine helps to preserve
the renal tubules. The cardiac stimulation improves the deteriorated cardiac
function. Hypotension is a principal adverse effect of the drug.

Disopyramide is classified as a class IA antiarrhythmic agent. It has profound

anticholinergic side effects with severe A.V. node suppression properties. It
should be carefully used in patients with congestive heart failure with glaucoma
and urinary hesistancy. The major adverse effects reported are dry mouth,
constipation, urinary retention and blurred vision.

ANSWER 10
(b) Diptheria is an example of a killed inactivated vaccine. Measles, Mumps and
Rubella are examples of live attenuated (live organism with reduced disease
producing capacity) vaccines. Live attenuated vaccines should never be
administered to an AIDS patient.

ANSWER 11
(c) Corlopam (Feoldopam) is indicated for short-term (up to 48 hours)
management of severe hypertension when rapid but quickly reversible,
emergency reduction of blood pressure is clinically required. It is an agonist for
Dopamine-D1 receptors.
ANSWER 12
(b) Net profit to net worth ratio is the best indicator of a pharmacy’s profitability,
because it compares the net profit to net investment in the pharmacy.

ANSWER 13
(b) Inventory turnover rate generally describes the efficiency of a pharmacy. It is
generally calculated by dividing the cost of the goods sold by the average of
beginning and ending inventory.

ANSWER 14
(c) The molecular geometry of the Methane is tetrahedral. Below are examples of
molecules with their possible geometry.
Name Geometry
BeCl2 Linear
BF3 Trigonal planar
SO2 Angular
CH4 Tetrahedral
NH3 Trigonal Pyramidal
PCl543 5 Trigonal
Bipyradimal

ANSWER 15
(b) Sublimation.

ANSWER 16
(a) Estrogen deficiency is the major cause for hot flashes.

ANSWER 17
(a) The prostate gland is located below the bladder in men. It surrounds the
urethra, which is a tube that drains urine from the bladder. Due to enlargement
and tightening of muscles of the prostate gland, pressure is exerted on the
urethra. The squeezing of the urethra results in slow flow of the urine from the
bladder; which apparently causes the symptoms of BPH.
Symptoms of BPH:
* a weak or interrupted stream when urinating
* a feeling that you cannot empty your bladder completely
* a feeling of delay when you start to urinate
* a need to urinate often, especially at night
* a feeling that you must urinate right away

ANSWER 18
(b) Imipramine is TCA mainly indicated for the treatment of nocturial enuresis.
The M/A of TCA in the treatment of nocturial enuresis has been questioned.
Desmopressin (Vasopressin) is a synthetic analog of endogenous human
antidiuretic hormone also indicated for the treatment of nocturial enuresis.