An emergency room doctor prescribes a certain pain medication to be delivered through an IV drip. She prescribes 800 mL of the medication to be delivered over the course of 8 hours. The IV delivers 1 mL of medication over the course of 30 drips. How many drips per minute are needed to deliver the prescribed dosage?

The number of drips per minute needed to deliver the medication at the prescribed dosage is 50 drips per minute

Step-by-step explanation:

The given parameters are;

The volume of the prescribed medication to delivered through IV = 800 mL

The duration over which the drug is to be delivered = 8 hours

The rate at which the IV delivers the medication = 30 drips/1 mL

800 mL = 800 × 1 mL

Therefore, the total number of drips in 800 mL= 800 mL × 30 drips/mL = 24,000 drips

The rate at which the drug is delivered = 800 mL/(8 hours) = 100 mL/hr = 100/60 mL/minute = 10/6 mL/minute

The total number of drips in 10/6 mL= 10/6 mL × 30 drips/mL = 50 drips

∴ The rate at which the medication needs to be delivered = 10/6 mL/minute = 50 drips/minute

The number of drips per minute needed to deliver the medication at the prescribed dosage of 800 mL/(8 hours) = 10/6 mL/minute = 50 drips per minute.