Calculations -2 : Nonsterile Pharmaceutical Liquids-II

Pharmacy Practice Skills Laboratory 2 (PHAR 7142)

TBL Resources # Week 2 (3-hour class session) 10/20/2015 (Section 1) and 10/21/2015 (Section 2)
(Dr. Gunaseelan)

Learning Objectives
Learn how to prepare diluted solutions from stock solutions
Apply the method of alligation to prepare pharmaceutical preparations of a given strength
Apply different concentration formulas to calculate the amount of an ingredient in a given
pharmaceutical preparation

Calculations Outline for Nonsterile Pharmaceutical Liquids

-Concentration and Understanding Different Ways of Expressing Concentration
-Dilution and Concentration
-Dilution of Alcohols and Acids
-Alligation Method
-Reconstitution of Powders for Oral Administration
-Application for Compounding and Dispensing Oral Liquids

Dilution and Concentration

The dilution of a liquid dosage form may be performed to prepare a product of lower drug concentration.
The dilution of pharmaceutical dosage forms may be desired to provide product strength more suitable
for use by a particular patient population e.g., pediatric, geriatric, or those in disease states.
If the amount of a solute remains constant, any change in the quantity of solution, through dilution or
concentration, is inversely proportional to the concentration of solute.

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Example:
How many milliliters of 2.0% elixir can be prepared from 45 mL of 3.5% elixir?

Dilution of Alcohols

Diluted alcohols are prepared by mixing the alcohol with water.

The resulting volume of diluted alcohols is less than the sum of volume of alcohol and water due to
physical contraction. To prepare a v/v strength of diluted alcohol, the desired volume of pure alcohol or
concentrated alcohol is measured and q.s. with water to the appropriate volume.
The physical contraction does not affect the weight of the components.

Dilution of Acids

The strength of official concentrated acids is usually expressed as percentage weight-in-weight (% w/w),
whereas strength of official diluted acids is expressed as percentage weight-in-volume (% w/v).
Specific gravity of concentrated acid is used to convert % w/w to % w/v.
Example:
How much alcohol and water should be used to prepare 800 g of 75% w/w alcohol from 80% w/w
alcohol?

Method of Alligation

Alligation is a rapid method of determining the proportions in which substances of different strengths
are mixed to yield the desired strength or concentration. There are two types of alligation:
medial
alternate
It is not just limited to calculations related to liquid dosage forms, but is also useful for calculations that
are related to other dosage forms.
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Alligation medial
Means of finding the weighted mean percentage strength.
If the quantity and the percentage strength of the individual ingredients are known, the
concentration or strength of the final mixture can be obtained by the use of Alligation medial.

Alligation alternate
Method to determine the respective proportions of individual semisolid preparations of known
strength that will be used to make a new preparation of desired strength.

Example of Alligation Medial:

What is the percentage v/v of glycerin in a mixture of 750 mL of 25% glycerin, 500 mL of 15%
glycerin, and a sufficient quantity of water to make 1,400 mL?
Use the following steps:
I.
Add the quantity of individual solutions used to prepare the final solution.
II.
Multiply the concentration of each solution with its corresponding quantity.
III.
Add the values from step II.
IV.
Divide the value obtained in step III by step I.

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Example of Alligation Alternate:

In what proportions should a 40% solution and a 15% solution be mixed to prepare a 25% solution?

Use the following steps:

Make three columns.
In the first column write the available % of concentrations that has to be mixed.
Write the desired % concentration in the center of the second column.
Perform subtraction between the available concentration (column 1) and desired concentration (column
3) by reading diagonally.
The difference is the relative proportions of individual ointment to be mixed to achieve the desired
strength.

Reconstitution of Powders for Oral Administration

Medications in the form of dry powders are examples of medications that need to be reconstituted prior
to being administered to a patient.
These medications are initially manufactured in the dry powder form to increase their shelf-life because
they are not as stable in liquid form, and can quickly lose their potency and stability once they are
reconstituted.

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Example

The label information on the amoxicillin 125mg/5mL, 100 mL bottle says to add 94 mL of purified water to the
bottle of powder to create 100 mL of amoxicillin suspension.
a. How much total amoxicillin is in the 100 mL bottle?
b. If the prescriber wants the child to take 4 mL per dose, how many milligrams of amoxicillin is
the child taking per dose?
c. How many milliliters will be left in the bottle after the child has completed the 10-day course of
therapy?
d. If 106 mL of water were accidentally added to the bottle of amoxicillin, how many mg of
amoxicillin will the child be taking if given 4 mL of this suspension?

a. How much total amoxicillin is in the 100 mL bottle?

b. If the prescriber wants the child to take 4 mL per dose, how many milligrams of amoxicillin is the child
taking per dose?

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c. How many milliliters will be left in the bottle after the child has completed the 10-day course of
therapy?

d. If 106 mL of water were accidentally added to the bottle of amoxicillin, how many mg of amoxicillin
will the child be taking if given 4 mL of this suspension?

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