Suppose a 600 Milligram Dose of a Drug Is Injected

question 147

Essay

Suppose a 600 milligram dose of a drug is injected into a patient and that the patient's kidneys remove 20% of the drug from the bloodstream every hour. Let D(n) denote the amount of the drug left in the patient's body after n hours.(a) Find an expression for D(n).(b) How long will it take for the drug level to drop below 200 milligrams?
(c) How long will it take to bring the drug level below 10% of the original dosage?

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Definitions:

Irradiation

Exposure to radiation, often for the purpose of medical treatment or food preservation.

Radiograph

An image created using radiation, typically X-rays, to visualize the internal structure of an object or body.

Radiopaque

Having the property of absorbing X-rays, and therefore visible on an X-ray image.

Radionuclide

A radioactive isotope of an element, used in medical imaging, cancer treatment, and various industries for tracing, dating, and research.