Math 1010

Drug Filtering Lab

Name: Nery Martinez

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

AMOUNT OF
DRUG
IN HER BLOOD
(MG)
1000
750
563
422
316
237
178
133
100
75
56
42
32
24
18
13
10
8

What might a model for this data look like?

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

3.) Based on your graph, what can you say about the data? For example, is there a pattern? Is
there constant slope? The drug continuously decreases from the blood. The slope of the line
is in a continuous decline, matching the amount of drug that still remains in the blood.
4.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood after 2 days?
32 milligrams remains in her blood after 2 days.
5.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood after 5 days?
0.179. Less than a milligram of the drug remains but still detectable.
6.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood 30 hours after she took the drug? Explain
your reasoning.
116 milligrams remain after 30 hours. I used an exponent of 7.5 to represent 30 hours in
the original equation.
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.
For the drug to reach a level of 0.1 milligram or lower, it would take a minimum of 5
days.
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?

It appears that the drug level will never reach zero. However it will still decay in the
blood system continuously forever, therefore making our number to decline below
testing levels.
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 ekt
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) = 10000719t

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

AMOUNT OF
DRUG
IN HER BLOOD
(MG)
1000
750
563
422
316
237
178
133
100
75
56
42
32

52
56
60
64
68

24
18
13
10
8

10.)
Interpret the parameters of this exponential model in terms of the context of the
problem.
Amount of time that has passed since taking the drug and the amount of drug that
remains in the blood.
11.)
Compare your values with the estimated values in the model. How close were they?
Why might they be different?
The values are exactly the same within the two models. Rates will vary between the
models with a minor adjustment of the rate, by approximating a decimal lower such as
to the nearest 10,000th. The results would then be altered throughout the model.
12.)
Use a graphing utility to graph the original data along with a graph of the model on the
same set of axes.

13.)
Were you expecting a horizontal asymptote? What might that mean in the context of
the problem?
Yes and this explains why that the drug level will never reach true Zero.
14.)

Using your model, how much drug is in her system 17 hours after taking the drug?
294 milligrams remain.
15.)
Using your model, how long will it take for exactly one-half of the drug to remain in her
system?
Approximately 10 hours.
16.)

Using this model, how long will it take for 0.1 mg of the drug to remain in her system?
According this model as well as the first model, it will take approximately five and one
half days to reach a level of 0.1 milligram.

17.)
Do you think the continuous decay model is more accurate for predicting the amount of
drug in her blood? Why? Or why not?
The model is quite accurate in predicting the amount of drug remaining in her blood. It
show the continuous decline in two forms, simple numbers and visually on the graph.
18.)

What other factors should be considered in coming up with a more realistic model?
Many different factors could alter the results. Every individual is different along with their
metabolism rate. Diets and exercise patterns also would alter the results.

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.
This project has changed my point of view of everyday math. I have always
known that math is relative to life and in my everyday projects. Math is a constant and
must be practiced every day in some form. We can see math and its equations
everywhere we look and in almost everything that we do. We just need to be aware of
these examples and explore them in our lives. I like how the topic of this project was
something from real life and something that everyone could relate with, after all
everyone has taken an aspirin at some point in their life. It was fun to see the results of
the decline in amount over time. I found it surprising that the drug will never reach a true
zero no matter how much time has passed. This project not only taught me a cool new
equation but it also taught me valuable lesson in life. Whatever you are exposed to in
your life will always remain in you. It may reach a level below detectability but a trace
will still remain.