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Al-Achi, A.

Campbell University
CU FIND
Pharmacy Pharmacy and Health Sciences, College of
2017
Universal Pharmaceutical Calculations: An
Overview
A. Al-Achi
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Recommended Citation
Al-Achi, A., "Universal Pharmaceutical Calculations: An Overview" (2017). Pharmacy. 596.
https://cufind.campbell.edu/pharmacy/596
Universal Pharmaceutical Calculations: An Overview
Antoine Al-Achi*
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Campbell University, NC 27506, USA
*Corresponding author: Antoine Al-Achi, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Campbell University, P.O. Box 1090, Buies Creek, NC 27506, USA, Tel:
9108931703; E-mail: alachi@campbell.edu
Received date: May 24, 2017; Accepted date: May 25, 2017; Published date: May 29, 2017
Copyright: © 2017 Al-Achi A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Editorial
The purpose of pharmaceutical calculations is to allow the
pharmacist to prepare pharmaceutical dosage forms for their patients
accurately. There exists a need for every pharmacist to be competent in
these calculations for patient’s care and safety. Some of the necessary
calculations are discussed below.
Aliquot method: This method permits the pharmacist to make
measurements for powders or liquids within acceptable errors (usually
5%). The method relies on knowledge of the sensitivity requirement of
the balance (for powders) or the deviation value of the measuring
device (for liquids). This, in turn, allows calculation of the minimum
allowable quantity within a predetermined error rate.
Density Factor (DF): The density factor determination is necessary
for accurately preparing suppositories in pharmacy. It is defined as the
weight of the drug in grams which occupies the same volume as that of
1 g of the base (usually cocoa butter). The Paddock Laboratory method
is often used for such determination of the DF value.
Milliequivalent (mEq): The notion of mill equivalent applies to ions
in solution. When ions interact with each other in solution, they do so,
1 equivalent weight to 1 equivalent weight. For example, 1 equivalent
weight of calcium always reacts with 1 equivalent weight of chloride in
solution. Stated otherwise, 20 g of calcium react with 35.5 g of chloride
to form CaCl2. Note that calcium chloride has 2 equivalent weights of
each calcium and chloride (it contains 40 g of calcium and 71 g of
chloride).
Milligrams percent (mg %): This concentration unit is similar to %
w/v, except for the fact that it expresses the number of milligrams of
the drug in 100 mL preparation. For a solution which is labelled as
0.12% (% w/v), the concentration may be expressed in mg % (120
mg/100 mL).
Molality (m): When a drug solution is labelled as 1 m, it means that
the solution contains 1 mole of the drug per kilogram of solvent. For
example, a pharmacist added 3 g of sucrose (342.3 g/mole) to 100 g of
water. The resulting solution may be labelled as 0.09 molal.
[(3 g) × (1000 g/kg)/(342.3 g/mole) × (100 g)]
Molarity (M): It is defined as the number of moles of the drug in a
one-litre solution. For a hydrochloric acid solution with a
concentration of 1 M means there is one mole of HCl in every litre
solution. Since the molecular weight of HCl is 36.5 g/mole, thus a 1 M
solution contains 36.5 g HCl in one-litre preparation. This translates
into 3.65% (%w/v) from the proportionality.
[(100 Ml) × (36.5 g)/(1000 mL)=3.65 g]
Normality (N): The number of gram equivalents of the drug in one-
litre solution is the basis of this concentration unit. Normality is related
to molarity by the following equation.
[Molarity=(Valence) x Normality]
For example, the valence of sulphuric acid is 2 equivalents/mole.
Thus, a 1 M solution of sulphuric acid is 2 N (or 2 Equivalents/L).
Since one equivalent weight of sulphuric acid is [(98 g/mole)/(2
Equivalents/mole)=49 g), then a 2 N solution contains (2 × 49 g=98 g
of sulphuric acid/L).
Part Per Million (ppm): This concentration unit is reserved for
solutions that include ions in a much diluted form. It is defined as the
number of parts of the solute present in one million parts of the
solution. When water is the solvent (density=1 g/mL), part per million
refers to the number of grams of the solute in one million millilitres of
solution. Suppose that a solution containing 5 ppm of fluoride ions (19
g/mole) is needed for a patient. The pharmacist may use sodium
fluoride (42 g/mole) in preparing this solution. The quantity of NaF
needed to make 1 litre of solution is 11 mg (containing 5 mg/L of
fluoride ions).
Percent by volume (%v/v): This concentration unit defines the
number of millilitres of the drug found in 100 mL of solution. If a
pharmaceutical solution is labelled as 4% (%v/v) for its glycerine
content, thus it contains 4 mL of glycerine in every 100 mL
preparation. If the pharmacist measures 20 mL of this solution using a
graduated cylinder, he should expect to have 0.8 mL of glycerine in this
volume. This calculation is also done by proportion [(20 mL) × (4 mL)/
(100 mL)=0.8 mL].
Percent by weight (%w/w): It is the number of grams of the drug
presents in 100 g preparation. For example, a 2% salicylic acid
ointment contains 2 g of salicylic acid in each 100 g formulation. For a
one-ounce ointment (30 g), there is 0.6 g of salicylic acid. This is done
by proportion [(30 g) × (2 g)/(100 g)=0.6 g].
Percent weight by volume (% w/v): For liquid dosage forms, this
concentration unit describes the number of grams of the drug available
in each 100 mL preparation. If a syrup formulation is labelled as 50%
of sucrose (% w/v), then it contains 50 g of sucrose in each 100 mL
syrup. When the pharmacist uses this preparation to sweeten an elixir,
he can take the 5-mL volume of the resulting syrup and adds it to 95
mL of the elixir formulation. Assuming volumes are additive (100 mL
total volume), the amount of sucrose in the final formulation is 2.5 g.
This is computed by proportion [(5 mL) (50 g)/(100 mL)=2.5 g]. If one
were to express the concentration of sucrose in the final volume of the
elixir in % w/v, then this would be stated as 2.5%.
The Hydrophile Lipophile Balance system (HLB): The HLB system
is a way for making calculations related to emulsions. In this system,
emulsifying agents and oil/oil-like substances are assigned HLB values.
Clinical Pharmacology &
Biopharmaceutics Al-Achi, Clin Pharmacol Biopharm 2017, 6:2 DOI: 10.4172/2167-065X.1000e127
Editorial OMICS International
Clin Pharmacol Biopharm, an open access journal
ISSN:2167-065X
Volume 6 • Issue 2 • 1000e127
Cl
in
ic
al
 P
ha
rm
aco
logy & Biopharm
aceutics
ISSN: 2167-065X
Usually, more hydrophilic compounds have HLB values greater than 10
and more lipophilic materials have HLB values of 10 or lower. The
system utilizes a matching technique in selecting the best emulsifying
agent for an emulsion by just matching the required HLB value of the
oil phase to that of the emulsifying agent. In the case where no exact
match is found, then the pharmacist uses two emulsifying agents with
their proportions in the final emulsion is determined by alligation
calculations.
Tonicity adjustment calculations: There are four different methods
for calculations made to adjust the tonicity of solutions. All of these
methods depend on the principle of colligative properties of solutions.
Tonicity of solutions is improved by the addition of an inert substance,
usually sodium chloride or boric acid. The first method is based on
knowledge of the freezing point of the solution being adjusted. The
second method relies on the value of a parameter known as the sodium
chloride equivalent value (E). The value of E allows the pharmacist to
convert the quantity of any drug in solution to its osmotic equivalent in
sodium chloride. The third and the fourth methods are also based on
the E-value. They allow the pharmacist to dilute the drug quantity by a
calculated volume of water to make an initial isotonic solution,
followed by diluting the resulting solution with another isotonic
solution (normal saline) to the desired final volume of the product. The
concentration units that describe the tonicity of solutions are
osmolarity and osmolality. These are similar to molarity and molality,
respectively, except for replacing the number of moles in the solution
by the number of osmoles. For sodium chloride, 1 mole equals to 2
osmoles because 1 molecule of NaCl generates 2 ions upon complete
dissociation in water. Normal saline solution is often labeled as 308
mOsmol/L because the concentration of NaCl in the solution is 154
mEq/L (using the equation-[mOsmol/L=(mEq/L) × (Number of ions
formed)/(Valence)=(154 mEq/L) × 2/ (1 Equivalent/mole)=308)] [1-4].
In summary, pharmaceutical calculations are of utmost importance
for the practicing pharmacist to accurately prepare and dispense
dosage forms to patients. Applying proper calculations and techniques
in a pharmacy operation serves as an essential part in the delivery of
pharmaceutical care.
References
1. Al-Achi A, Gupta MR, Stagner WC (2013) Integrated pharmaceutics:
applied preformulation, product design, and regulatory science. Wiley, NJ,
USA.
2. Allen LV (2016) The art, science, and technology of pharmaceutical
compounding. American Pharmacists Association, DC, USA.
3. Amiji, MM, Cook TJ, Mobley WC (2014) Applied physical pharmacy.
McGraw-Hill Education/Medical.
4. Shrewsbury RP (2015) Applied pharmaceutics in contemporary
compounding. Morton Publishing, CO, USA.
 
Citation: Al-Achi A (2017) Universal Pharmaceutical Calculations: An Overview. Clin Pharmacol Biopharm 6: e127. doi:10.4172/2167-065X.
1000e127
Page 2 of 2
Clin Pharmacol Biopharm, an open access journal
ISSN:2167-065X
Volume 6 • Issue 2 • 1000e127


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Universal Pharmaceutical Calculations: An Overview

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