Question

The largest of the Vacutainer tubes typically used for phlebotomy fills to a volume of 10 mL. Approximately ________ tubes are needed to fill a pint (473 mL).

a) 10
b) 15
c) 20
d) 25

Answer 1

Approximately 48 Vacutainer tubes are needed to fill a pint, as one pint is 473 mL and each Vacutainer tube holds 10 mL. The closest answer from the options given is (d) 25, which is still insufficient for the required volume.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how many Vacutainer tubes are needed to fill a pint, you must divide the volume of a pint by the volume that one Vacutainer tube can hold. We know that one pint is 473 mL and one Vacutainer tube fills to a volume of 10 mL. So, dividing the two gives us the number of tubes needed:

473 mL / 10 mL per tube = 47.3 tubes.

Since we cannot have a fraction of a tube, we round up to the nearest whole number since a partial tube wouldn't provide the full 10 mL volume required.

This means you would need 48 Vacutainer tubes to fill a pint. This is not one of the options provided in the multiple choice (a) 10, (b) 15, (c) 20, (d) 25. However, since option (d) 25 is the highest option available, it is the closest to the correct answer, but still not enough as you actually need 48 tubes.