Question

One of Camille’s graduation gifts is a trip on Amtrak from his home in Atlanta to New York to visit a cousin. Camille is afraid he may experience motion sickness so he has decided to take 50 mg of dimenhydrinate (which will help prevent motion sickness) before boarding Amtrak. Suppose that 85% of this medication remains in the bloodstream after 1 hour. Represent the amount of dimenhydrinate in Camille’s bloodstream for the first 4 hours of taking the drug. Let t be the number of hours after reaching its peak level of 50 mg. Explain how you determined the amount of dimenhydrinate in Camille’s bloodstream.

Answer 1

• 26.10 mg

Explanation:

• Initial amount of drug = 50 mg
• Remains after each hour = 85%
• Time = t

This relationship can be shown as a function:

• y(t) = 50(0.85)^t

After 4 hours remaining drug in blood:

• y(4) = 50(0.85)^4 = 50(0.522) = 26.10 mg