Final answer:
The solution contains a total of 65 milliequivalents of chloride, calculated by summing the milliequivalents of chloride from both sodium chloride and potassium chloride.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the total number of milliequivalents of chloride provided by an intravenous Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) solution containing 40 meq of sodium chloride and 25 meq of potassium chloride, you need to add the milliequivalent contributions of chloride from both the compounds. Sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) both dissociate into their respective ions, providing one mole of chloride (Cl⁻) per mole of the compound.
Since the TPN contains 40 meq of NaCl and 25 meq of KCl, this directly means it contains 40 milliequivalents plus 25 milliequivalents of chloride ions, because NaCl and KCl each provide one equivalent of chloride per one equivalent of the compound. Therefore:
40 meq (from NaCl) + 25 meq (from KCl) = 65 meq of Cl⁻
The solution contains a total of 65 milliequivalents of chloride, when rounded to the nearest whole number.