Free PTCB practice quiz 5 # 4

by Judy Lav
(Oklahoma)

Would you please show me how to arrive at this answer? I thought I was getting a handle on alligations, but this one throws me because I do not see enough information to fill in the-tic-tac-toe grid as far as my understanding of it is.

You have been asked by the Pharmacist to prepare 3 liters of a 30% strength solution. Your pharmacy stocks the active ingredient in 8 oz bottles of 70% strength. How many bottles of the active ingredient will you need to open to complete this request?
A 14
B 10
C 6
E 3

Thank you so much

Reply (Keith): Hi Judy, Indeed, this question was written (on purpose) in a way which throws many people off. However, I wrote it that way because I feel that it helps people to better develop test taking muscles. After reading the question, you are probably asking: "but what are we mixing it with?"

So, when you aren't given another(lower)strength to mix with, then you must default to using Water or NS or something with 0% of the active ingredient. Therefore, that is what you put in the other spot in the tic-tac-toe 0

Here it is step-by-step

On the exam, you must be prepared for these types of questions. They are testing to see what you know, sure... but also how well you can "Think on your feet", which is equally important.