I give up on this math problem

Cook26 · Apr 9, 2016

I believe your drop factor should be 10 drops/mL not per min. That should help you to solve

Larry2016 · Apr 9, 2016

yes I meant 10 drops / mL - still cant figure it out for some reason.

umbdude, MSN, APRN · Apr 9, 2016

yes I meant 10 drops / mL - still cant figure it out for some reason.

What is the question really asking? How many "mL" is left in the bag after 3.5 hours of infusing.

So you need to first know fast you're infusing. From the stem of the question you can figure out how many mL you're infusing per minute, by using cross-multiply. You want to end up with mL/min.

Once you know that, you can figure out how much you have already infused, and how much is left from that 1000 mL bag.

Anonymous865 · Apr 10, 2016

When writing an equation, it really helps if instead of writing 40 gtt/min, you write

40gtt

---------

1 minute

In other words write the 40 gtt on one line. Draw a line under it. Then write 1 minute on the line under it. Then remember that you can eliminate the unit if that unit occurs in a numerator in one part of the equation and the denominator in another part of the equation.

i'll get you started:

Your pump has been running for 3.5 hours, so how many minutes has it been running:

60 min x 3.5 hours

-----------

1 hour

Because "hour" occurs as a denominator in the first part of the equation and in the numerator in the second part of the equation, I can just mark out the "hour" unit and that leaves me with just "minutes" as a numerator.

Also remember that it is equally valid to say 60 min/1 hour or 1 hour/60 min.

MATH SIDE NOTE: 60 minutes and 1 hour are exactly the same thing. When you divide something by itself the answer is always 1. That is why it is "legal" to multiply your 3.5 hours by 60min/hour because you are actually just multiplying 3.5 by 1 which doesn't affect your data.

Now how many gtt will have infused in that many minutes if you know that you are running 40 gtt/min? How can you show this in the equation?

You have 1 more piece of info. The number of gtt in 1 ml. If you know how many gtt have infused in 3.5 hours and how many gtt there are in 1 ml, you know how many ml have infused in 3.5 hours.

You know how many ml you started with and how many ml you infused, so it is easy to figure out what is left.

If you'll post what you come up with, I'll tell you if it is correct or point you in the right direction.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2016

Moved to the Nursing Student Assistance forum.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2016

Help me on this math problem we have to review, please...
volume to infuse = 1000 mL
drip rate = 40 gtt/min
drop factor = 10 gtt/min
pump has been running from 12 pm to 330 pm. How many milliliters will be left at 330 pm?

You know that you are infusing 40 gtt/min and that there are 10 gtt in 1 mL. From there, you can figure out how many mL/min you are infusing. Multiply that by 60 and you can figure out how many mL per hour. Multiply that by 3.5 and you can figure out how much has infused in 3.5 hrs. Subtract that from 1000 and you have your answer.

milesims · Apr 11, 2016

It has been running for 3.5 hours. There are 1000mL to begin with. You have 10 drops/ml, and 15 drops/min.

If it is 10 drops/ml, and if it is 15 drops/min, than you have to find out how many ml are going per minute. You do this by dividing 15 drops by 10 drops/ml = 1.5ml per minute. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so you multiple 1.5ml/min x60 = 90 drops/hr. You are running it for 3.5 hours, so 90 drops/hour x 3.5 = 315mL

So you subtract 315mL from your initial amount, which is 1000mL-315mL = 685mL. Therefore, the amount of mL left at 330 is 685mL.

Forgive me if there are any mathematical mistakes, I did this in my head quickly. The procedure is 100% correct.

synaptic · Apr 14, 2016

Did you pass algebra in high school?

shortNP · Apr 15, 2016

"Help me on this math problem we have to review, please...

volume to infuse = 1000 mL

drip rate = 40 gtt/min

drop factor = 10 gtt/min

pump has been running from 12 pm to 330 pm. How many milliliters will be left at 330 pm?"

You have to understand the question to get to the answer.

The question is how much is left of the 1000 ml after 3.5 hours of dripping at 40 gtts per min if volume dripped is 10 gtts per ml.

Figure out how many ml drips in an hour then x 3.5 hours. Subtract the amount dripped from 1000 ml and you'll have your answer.

40 gtts/min x 60 min = 2400 ggts per hour

2400 ggts divided by 10 gtts/ml = 240 ml (total per hour)

240 ml x 3.5 hrs= 840 ml

1000 ml - 840 ml = 160 ml

160 ml is your answer.