Question

A prescription calls for 245 mcg per day of levothyroxine (Synthroid) to combat hypothyroidism. If your pharmacist only has the 121 mcg tablets available, how many tablets should you take a day?

a) 1 tablet
b) 2 tablets
c) 3 tablets
d) 4 tablets

Answer 1

The student needs to take 2 tablets of the 121 mcg levothyroxine to meet their prescribed daily dose of 245 mcg. This is because the calculation of 245 mcg divided by 121 mcg per tablet is approximately 2.02, which is rounded down to 2 tablets.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of this question is Mathematics, and it pertains to a High School level problem involving dosage calculations for a medication called levothyroxine (Synthroid), which is used to treat hypothyroidism.

The question requires us to calculate how many 121 mcg tablets of levothyroxine are needed to meet a daily prescription of 245 mcg. To find the answer, we divide the total daily dosage required (245 mcg) by the dosage per tablet (121 mcg).

The calculation is 245 mcg ÷ 121 mcg per tablet, which equals approximately 2.02. Since you cannot take a fraction of a tablet, in practice, the patient would take 2 tablets to come as close to the required dose as possible without exceeding it.

The correct answer is (b) 2 tablets should be taken a day to approximate the prescribed dosage of levothyroxine without going over the amount specified.