Math 1010

Drug Filtering Lab

Name: Rebecca Anguiano

The purpose of this lab is to come up with a continuous model for exponential decay.
Dot assumes that her kidneys can filter out 25% of a drug in her blood every 4 hours. She knows
that she will need to take a drug test for an interview in a couple of days. She plans on taking one
1000-milligram dose of the drug to help manage her pain.
1.) Fill in the table showing the amount of the drug in your blood as a function of time and round
each value to the nearest milligram. The first two data points are already completed.

TIME SINCE
TAKING
THE DRUG (HR)
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68
72
76
80
84
88
92
96

AMOUNT OF
DRUG
IN HER BLOOD
(MG)
1000
750
562.5
421.875
316.406
237.304
177.977
133.482
100.111
75.083
56.312
42.233
31.674
23.755
17.816
13.361
10.020
7.514
5.635
4.226
3.169
2.376
1.781
1.335
1.001

My Math:
25% = 25/100 =1/4
1000*1/4= 1000/4= 250
1000-250= 750
750*1/4= 750/4= 187.5
750-187.5= 562.5
562.5*1/4= 562.5/4= 140.625
562.5-140.625= 421.875
I continued with this for the rest of the
hours on the table. (I used the calculator for
the rest)

Table must be extended in order to

answer questions 4 & 5

100
104
108
112
116
120
124
128

0.750
0.562
0.421
0.315
0.236
0.177
0.132
0.098

What might a model for this data look like?

X-(X*1/4)

Amount of Drug in her Blood (Mg)

2.) Use a graphing utility to make a plot of the above data. Label axes appropriately.

Time (Hrs.)

3.) Based on your graph, what can you say about the data? For example, is there a pattern? Is
there constant slope?
The slope is not constant. It seems to get smaller and smaller as more time goes by.
4.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood after 2 days?
2 days= 48hrs. it is about 31.674 mg of drug in her blood.

5.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood after 5 days?
5 days= 120hrs. It is about 31.674 mg.
6.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood 30 hours after she took the drug? Explain
your reasoning.
Because she has 133.482 mg in her blood at 28hrs, and loses 25% in 4hrs, then shell lose
12.5% in 2hrs. By taking 12.5% of 133.482 mg you get 16.685 mg, subtract this from 133.482
mg, and your result is 166.796 mg.

7.) A blood test is able to detect the presence of this drug if there is at least 0.1 mg in a persons
blood. How many days will it take before the test will come back negative? Explain your
answer.
Because Ive extended the table to 128hrs or 32 days, it is after this when the test begins to
come back negative.

8.) Will the drug ever be completely removed from her system? Explain your reasoning. What
complications might arise from having excess amounts in her system?
No, because if we continue to extend the hrs. and apply the same type of math previously to
those hours, there will always be an amount to take away and it will never reach zero.

9.) Since there is a constant rate of decay, a continuous exponential decay model can be used to
determine how much drug is in her system at any time.
Exponential Decay Model
A(t ) A0 e kt
Where A(t) is amount of drug in blood at time t in hours,
A0 is the initial amount of drug, and
k is the rate of decay (it will be a negative number)
You will have to find the actual value of k that works for this model. Write down the
exponential decay model for the amount of drug in Dots blood as a function of time:

Model: A(t)= 1000e^-0.0719

Model Solution:
A(t)= 1000e^kt
A(4)= 1000e^k(4)= 750

y= logaX
X=a^4
0.75= e^4k
4k= ln(0.75) <- divide each side by 4

1000e^k(4)= 750
(divide each side by 1000.)

e^4k=0.75

The answer is: A(t)= 1000e^-0.0719t

Now use that model to fill in the following table:

TIME SINCE
TAKING
THE DRUG (HR)
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68

AMOUNT OF
DRUG
IN HER BLOOD
(MG)
1000
750
562.593
421.978
316.510
237.402
178.066
133.561
100.178
75.140
56.359
42.273
31.707
23.782
17.838
13.379
10.035
7.527

I used this model for the rest of the

hours on the table to find the solution
for the amount of drug left in her blood
as time goes by.
Example:
A(8)= 1000e^-0.0719(8)
A(8)= 1000e^-0.5752
A(8)= 1000(0.563)

A(8)= 562.592mg of drug in 8hrs.

I continued this for the rest of the
table.

10.)
Interpret the parameters of this exponential model in terms of the context of the
problem.
The model is the representation of the process it takes the drug to decrease or leave her blood
system as time goes by.

11.)
Compare your values with the estimated values in the model. How close were they?
Why might they be different?
When using the second model I realized both sets of data were actually pretty similar in value.
The only difference would be a couple significant digits, but only because this model seems
more accurate.

Amount of Drug in her Blood (Mg)

12.)
Use a graphing utility to graph the original data along with a graph of the model on the
same set of axes.

Time (Hrs.)

13.)
Were you expecting a horizontal asymptote? What might that mean in the context of
the problem?

Yes, knowing this was an exponential equation problem, a property for those type of problems
is that they never reach zero. When relating this to Dot, this means she will never get rid of the
drug from her blood stream completely. The amount will keep getting smaller and smaller but
never exactly leave.

14.)
Using your model, how much drug is in her system 17 hours after taking the drug?
A(17)= 1000e^-0.0719(17)
= 294.552 hrs.
15.)
Using your model, how long will it take for exactly one-half of the drug to remain in her
system?
1000/2 -> 500/1000= 1000e^-0.0719t/1000
= e^-0.0719t

ln(1/2)= -0.0719 (divide both sides by -0.0719)

t= 9.604 hrs.

16.)
Using this model, how long will it take for 0.1 mg of the drug to remain in her system?
A(0.1)= 1000e^-0.0719(0.1)
=28.062 hrs.
17.)
Do you think the continuous decay model is more accurate for predicting the amount of
drug in her blood? Why? Or why not?
Yes. Because since we are using an equation , it kind of already does the math for you in an
accurate way, and a more direct answer. With the Second model you didnt have to worry too
much about or keep track of significant digits as much as you would for the first model I came
up with.

18.)

What other factors should be considered in coming up with a more realistic model?

I would say maybe what she ate, how much water she drank, how much she slept or
exercised. Whether she was taking other medication was just as important.

19.)
Reflective writing: Did this project change the way you think about how math can be
applied to the real world? Write one paragraph stating what ideas changed and why. If this
project did not change the way you think, write how this project gave further evidence to
support your existing opinion about applying math. Be specific.