Help with Insulin/syringe math!!!

[Confusedd]

Hi all!

Am desperate for some help. A particular questions has been plaguing my fellow classmates and me. Our teachers presented us with a question in class that we can't seem to make sense of. The question was:

If you were to draw up 5 units of U-50 insulin in a U-100 syringe, how much would you draw up?

Now, I know that technically you should only draw up insulin with a syringe calibrated to the same concentration of insulin (use a U-50 syringe with U-50 insulin, U-100 syringe with U-100 insulin, etc.). Ignoring that fact, how much would you draw up? I was so confused by the answer that I didn't even bother to write it down, so I don't remember what the answer was. Can anyone answer, and explain that answer, to me?

[liveyourlife747]

From what I could find online, u 50 is a 1/2 strength insulin. So 5 units of u 50 would be 2.5 units of u 100, at least that's what I'm thinking. Not sure if its right. I haven't run into having to draw up u50 insulins. We have u100 on our unit.

[tokebi]

U-50 insulin contains 50 units in each mL, and so 5 units would be 0.1mL.

U-100 syringe is calibrated such that each unit equals 0.001mL (100 units in 1mL). You need to draw up 0.1mL, which would be the 10-unit mark on this syringe.

Or, as previous poster said, U-50 insulin is half strength of U-100 insulin. So, you'll need twice the amount -- so you need to draw up to 10-unit mark instead of 5-unit mark.