RxCalculations

NAPLEX
PRACTICE
QUESTIONS
21 calculation questions to
prepare for the board exams 

MICHAEL DANQUAH, MS, PHD

C O N T E N T S

03 CONVERSIONS

08 TOTAL PARENTERAL NUTRITION

10 CONCENTRATION

15 PH AND BUFFERS

17 MILLIEQUIVALENTS

22 OSMOLARITY  

25 RECONSTITUTION

28 FLOW RATE CALCULATIONS

32 ANSWERS

N A P L E X P R A C T I C E Q U E S T I O N S
 CONVERSIONS

LEARN YOUR CONVERSION FACTORS AND

PRACTICE HOW TO USE THEM

PAGE 3
QUESTION 1
REVIEW HOW TO CONVERT FROM
GRAIN TO MILLIGRAM

How many milligrams

are equal to 1/150 gr of
Nitroglycerine?

PAGE 4
QUESTION 2
REVIEW HOW TO CONVERT FROM
QUART TO MILLILITERS

How many grams of

Heparin are required
to prepare 1 quart of
0.45% solution?

PAGE 5
QUESTION 3
REVIEW HOW TO CONVERT FROM
GRAIN TO GRAMS AND GALLONS TO
LITERS

If I want to make a
gallon of cough
preparation that will
contain 1 grain of
active ingredient per
teaspoonful. How
many grams of active
ingredient will I need?

PAGE 6
QUESTION 4
REVIEW HOW TO SOLVE A DAYS
SUPPLY TYPE PROBLEM 

If a prescription reads
“Augmentin 875 mg po
bid x 10 days,” how
many mL of
Augmentin 250 mg/5
mL are required to fill a
ten-day supply?

PAGE 7
 TOTAL PARENTERAL
NUTRITION
PRACTICE USING CONVERSION FACTORS
AND EQUATIONS FOR TPN CALCULATIONS

PAGE 8
QUESTION 5
REVIEW HOW TO SOLVE A TPN TYPE
PROBLEM 

JM is a patient in the ICU

(6'1" and 256 pounds). He is
currently receiving 3-in-1
PN at 125 mL/h. The PN is
12.1% w/v dextrose and
4.7%w/v protein. The
prescriber wants the
patient's protein intake
from the PN to be 1.4 g/kg
IBW per day. By how many
grams will the current
protein need to be reduced
to achieve this?
PAGE 9
 CONCENTRATION

REVIEW THE VARIOUS WAYS OF

EXPRESSICONVERSION FACTORS
AND EQUATIONS FOR TPN CALCULATIONS

PAGE 10
QUESTION 6
REVIEW HOW TO SOLVE FOR FINAL
CONCENTRATION OF A PREPARATION
GIVEN THE CONCENTRATION AND
QUANTITIES OF COMPONENTS TO BE
COMBINED

If 60 g of 1%
hydrocortisone are
mixed with 80 g of
2.5% hydrocortisone,
what is the
percent of
hydrocortisone in the
final mixture?

PAGE 11
QUESTION 7
REVIEW HOW TO SOLVE FOR FINAL
CONCENTRATION OF A PREPARATION
GIVEN THE CONCENTRATION AND
QUANTITIES OF COMPONENTS TO BE
COMBINED

How many mL of 75%

alcohol should be
mixed with 10%
alcohol to prepare 30%
of 500 mL alcohol
solution ?

PAGE 12
QUESTION 8
HOW TO SOLVE A DILUTIONS AND
CONCENTRATION QUESTION USING
THE ALLIGATION METHOD

An ointment contains
1%w/w calamine. How
much calamine
powder would be
appropriate to add to a
200g of the ointment
to produce a 4% w/w
calamine ointment?

PAGE 13
QUESTION 9
HOW TO SOLVE A RATIO STRENGTH
CALCULATIONS PROBLEM

How much Lidocaine is

required to prepare 30
mL of a 1:1000
Lidocaine solution?

PAGE 14
 PH AND BUFFERS

PRACTICE KEY CONCEPTS IN PH AND

BUFFER CALCULATIONS

PAGE 15
QUESTION 10
HOW TO SOLVE A PH AND BUFFER
CALCULATIONS PROBLEM USING THE
HENDERSON-HASSELBALCH EQUATION

What is the ratio of

ionized to unionized
species of a weakly
acidic drug at pH = 7 if
the pKa = 5?

PAGE 16
MILLIEQUIVALENTS

PRACTICE USING KEY EQUATIONS

IN MILLIEQUIVALENTS CALCULATIONS

PAGE 17
QUESTION 11
HOW TO SOLVE FOR
MILLIEQUIVALENTS OF AN ION GIVEN
THE MASS AND MOLECULAR WEIGHT

How many mEqs of K+

are present in 750 mg
of a KCl capsule? [ K+ =
39, Cl- = 35.5]

PAGE 18
QUESTION 12
HOW TO SOLVE FOR THE QUANTITY OF
A SALT NEEDED TO SUPPLY A GIVEN
MILLIEQUIVALENT OF AN ION

How many grams of

CaCl2 are required to
prepare a 1 gallon
solution that contains
20 mEq of calcium
ions? [mw CaCl2 =
111g/mol]

PAGE 19
QUESTION 13
HOW TO SOLVE FOR THE QUANTITY OF
A SALT NEEDED TO SUPPLY A GIVEN
MILLIEQUIVALENT OF AN ION

If a prescription calls to
dispense 8 fl oz of KCl
in such a way that 1
teaspoonful of solution
contains 0.5 mEqs of
drug, how many grams
of KCl are required to
prepare the above
prescription? [mw of
KCl = 74.5g/mol]

PAGE 20
QUESTION 14
HOW TO SOLVE FOR THE QUANTITY OF
A SALT NEEDED TO SUPPLY A GIVEN
MILLIEQUIVALENT OF AN ION GIVEN
THE CONCENTRATION OF THE
SOLUTION

You receive a prescription

for 240 mL of a potassium
citrate solution with a
concentration of 15
mEq/15mL. How much
potassium citrate must
you weigh out to
compound this
prescription? (MW of
C6H5K3O7 = 306)

PAGE 21
 OSMOLARITY 
PRACTICE USING KEY EQUATIONS
IN OSMOLARITY CALCULATIONS

PAGE 22
QUESTION 15
HOW TO CALCULATE OSMOLARITY
GIVEN THE CONCENTRATION OF THE
SOLUTION

How many mOsmols/L

are represented by
1000 mL 0.9% sodium
chloride solution?

PAGE 23
QUESTION 16
HOW TO CALCULATE OSMOLARITY
GIVEN THE CONCENTRATION OF THE
SOLUTION

How many mOsmols/L

are represented by a
50 mL 8.4% sodium
bicarbonate solution?
[mw = 84 g/mol]

PAGE 24
RECONSTITUTION
PRACTICE KEY CONCEPTS IN
RECONSTITUTION CALCULATIONS

PAGE 25
QUESTION 17
HOW TO CALCULATE THE VOLUME OF A
RECONSTITUTED SOLUTION NEEDED TO
FILL A PATIENTS ORDER

A patient is ordered a 130

mg dose of a drug in 50
mL of D5W. A vial
contains 1 gram of the
powdered drug. The drug
has a powder volume of
0.4 mL. How many
milliliters will be needed
to fill the patient order if
the concentration after
reconstitutions is 250
mg/mL? 

PAGE 26
QUESTION 18
HOW TO CALCULATE POWDER VOLUME

Your bottle of Amoxil

(amoxicillin) says to
add 39 mL to the bottle
to get a solution of 150
mg/tsp. The total
amount in the bottle is
2 g. What is the
powder volume?

PAGE 27
 FLOW RATES
PRACTICE KEY CONCEPTS IN FLOW
RATE CALCULATIONS

PAGE 28
QUESTION 19
HOW TO DETERMINE FLOW RATE IN
DROPS PER MINUTE

Four grams of
Levofloxacin (mixed
with 500 mL 0.9%
NaCl) is administered
via slow I.V. infusion
over 24 hours. If the I.V.
set delivers 10
drops/ml, what would
be the rate of flow in
drops/ min?

PAGE 29
QUESTION 20
HOW TO DETERMINE FLOW RATE OF AN
INFUSION PUMP IN MILLILITERS PER
HOUR

A 60-kg patient is to
receive a constant
infusion of dobutamine
at a rate of 5
mcg/kg/min. The
available solution has a
concentration of 0.5
mg/mL. For what rate
should the infusion
pump be set?

PAGE 30
QUESTION 21
HOW TO DETERMINE FLOW RATE IN
DROPS PER MINUTE

A patient is receiving an
IV 1000 cc per 8 hour.
When 600 mL have been
run in from the 1-L bag,
the physician ordered the
remainder to be infused
over the next 6 hours. The
IV set is calibrated at 10
gtt/mL. What is the new
flow rate in drops per
minute? 

PAGE 31
ANSWERS
1. 0.432 mg 12. 1.11 g
2. 4.26 g 13. 1.788 g
3. 49 g 14. 24.48 g
4. 350 mL 15. 307.7 mOsm/L
5. 29.14 g 16. 2000 mOsm/L
6. 3.5 drops/min 17. 0.52 mL
7. 153.85 mL 18. 27.67 mL
8. 6.25 g 19. 3.5 drops/min
9. 30 mg 20. 36 mL/h
10. 100:1 21. 11.1 drops/min
11. 10 mEq  

PAGE 32
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