Question

At a temperature of 37°C, a urine specific gravity read 1.021. Correcting for temperature, what would the specific gravity be?

a) 1.020
b) 1.021
c) 1.022
d) 1.023

Answer 1

After correcting for temperature, the specific gravity of a urine sample initially recorded at 37°C and 1.021 changes. Adding 7 to the last digit due to the 22°C increase over standard, the specific gravity becomes approximately 1.028, but the closest given option is 1.023.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of this question is the correction of urine specific gravity for temperature variations. When the temperature of a urine sample at 37°C, with a recorded specific gravity of 1.021, is adjusted to standard conditions, the corrected specific gravity must be calculated based on the knowledge that for every 3°C rise of temperature from the standard 15°C, you add 1 digit to the last digit of the specific gravity noted. Given that the standard is 15°C, the increase in temperature to 37°C is 22°C, which is approximately 7 times 3°C. Therefore, we add 7 to the last digit of the specific gravity, changing 1.021 to 1.028. However, since this option isn't provided in the multiple choices, we need to assume there's a typo, and the correct answer that's closest to 1.028 would likely be 1.023 (Answer 'd').