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  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Medicine Half Life

Age 14 to 18
Challenge Level Yellow star
  • Problem
  • Student Solutions
A certain medicine is broken down by the body so that half of the remaining dose in the system is broken down every 12 hours. 
If I regularly take 400mg of medicine in the morning and 400mg of medicine in the evening what is the long term effective level in my system after I take each tablet?
 
Extension: What will be the long term stable level after I take each tablet if the body breaks down half of the remaining dose every 6 hours?
 
Did you know ... ?

The 'half-life' of medicines is an important concept in medicine, particularly in the area of anti-depressants which take some time to reach active levels in the body.
 

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Ladder and Cube

A 1 metre cube has one face on the ground and one face against a wall. A 4 metre ladder leans against the wall and just touches the cube. How high is the top of the ladder above the ground?

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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