Math 1010

Drug Filtering Lab

Name: Emereth Griffin

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?

An exponential curve that falls quickly, and then slows down.

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

DRUG FILTERING A.
1200
1000
1000
800
AMOUNT OF DRUG IN HER BLOOD

750
563

600

422
316
237
178
133
100
755642
3224181310 8

400
200
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

TIME SINCE TAKING THE DRUG

3.) Based on your graph, what can you say about the data? For example, is there a pattern? Is
there constant slope?
The data forms an exponential curve that rapidly descends for the first 20 hours and then begins
to taper off. In mathematical principle the angle of this curve would continue to decrease indefinitely.
4.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood after 2 days?
32 mg
5.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood after 5 days?
0.179 milligrams
6.) How many milligrams of the drug are in Dots blood 30 hours after she took the drug? Explain
your reasoning.
Approximately 116.38, if the rate for four hours is .25 we could divide that in half to get .125. Then
subtract the rated at 28 hours (x) by .125x.
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.

Six days, or five days and at least 12 hours.

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?
Theoretically yes, but the process could take longer than a natural lifetime. In
mathematical principle the drug would never leave her system, but in reality the drug is
made up of molecules. A finite amount of molecules entered the body. Given enough
time that finite amount of molecules would be filtered out. At which point in order to
follow our model/formula, or mathematical principle, the molecules would have to then
be broken up into smaller parts. They would no longer be the molecular structure that
makes it the drug.

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: 1000e^(-0.0718x)

Now use that model to fill in the following table:

TIME SINCE
TAKING
THE DRUG (HR)
0
4
8

AMOUNT OF
DRUG
IN HER BLOOD
(MG)
1000
750
563

12
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68

422
317
237
178
134
100
75
56
42
32
24
18
13
10
8

10.)
Interpret the parameters of this exponential model in terms of the context of the
problem.
I found it interesting that (-0.0718) was the exponent that fit the problem the best. Initially to find
the exponent I took 25% and divided it by four to find a rate for each hour. However, it resulted in a
chart that looked something like this.

Model: 1000e^(-0.0625x)

TIME SINCE
TAKING
THE DRUG (HR)
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32

AMOUNT OF DRUG
IN HER BLOOD (MG)
1000
779
607
472
368
287
223
174
135

36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68

105
82
64
50
39
30
24
18
14

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Because they gave the second line, 4 hours equals 750, I had to assume that the number 0.0625
was incorrect. Sad though because it wouldve been a really pretty comparison between the two.
11.)
Compare your values with the estimated values in the model. How close were they?
Why might they be different?
They were very close to the same, the decimals changed slightly.
12.)
Use a graphing utility to graph the original data along with a graph of the model on the
same set of axes.

DRUG FILTERING B.
1200
1000
1000
800
AMOUNT OF DRUG IN HER BLOOD

750
563

600

422
316
237
178
133
100
755642
3224181310 8

400
200
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

TIME SINCE TAKING THE DRUG

13.)
Were you expecting a horizontal asymptote? What might that mean in the context of
the problem?
Yes, I was expecting one.
14.)

Using your model, how much drug is in her system 17 hours after taking the drug?

295 milligrams

15.)
Using your model, how long will it take for exactly one-half of the drug to remain in her
system?
Nine hours, give or take.
16.)

Using this model, how long will it take for 0.1 mg of the drug to remain in her system?

Approximately 128 hours

17.)
Do you think the continuous decay model is more accurate for predicting the amount of
drug in her blood? Why? Or why not?
Absolutely, the rate of decay will be happening continuously as the kidneys are working all the
time not on a four hour basis.

18.)

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

That would depend on how accurate you wanted to be, you could include information such as
weight, presence of other toxins, time spent awake time spent sleeping, general health of the
subject, consumption of water and food, and Etc.

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.
Although this probably is not an answer you really want to hear, but this problem
really didnt change my outlook on math. I was already completely aware that
mathematics could be applied in a situation such as this. What this problem did best for
me was to help me to understand some of the mathematics Ive been learning over the
course of the term. Having to think about how to apply them myself greatly increased
my understanding of how to work with and use those formulas. This is my favorite part
about story problems", it makes the numbers real!