If a drug must be diluted 1:5, how much diluent is needed for 10 mL of the drug?

To find the amount of diluent needed when a drug must be diluted in a ratio of 1:5, it’s essential first to understand what this ratio means. A 1:5 dilution indicates that for every 1 part of the drug, there are 5 parts of diluent. This means that the total volume of the mixture will be the volume of the drug plus the volume of the diluent.

In this case, if you have 10 mL of the drug, the calculation for the amount of diluent required involves doubling the volume of the drug by the dilution factor. Specifically:

1. For every 1 part of the drug, there are 5 parts of diluent. Hence, if 1 part represents the drug volume (10 mL), 5 parts represent the diluent.

2. To determine the volume of the diluent, you multiply the volume of the drug (10 mL) by 5 (the number of parts of diluent).

3. Thus, 10 mL (drug) × 5 (diluent) = 50 mL.

Therefore, in order to achieve a 1:5 dilution for 10 mL of drug, you would need 50