Question

1. place 1/5th of the powder into a paper wrapper and fold the wrapper (without spilling any powder).
2. label your final product. repeat the process until you have created 5 separate final products.

**remember that in a true pharmacy environment, your task is not completed until all stock medication and
equipment have been cleaned and returned to their proper location in the pharmacy.**

table 1: powder mass

total powder mass (g)	total mass / 5 (g)

post-lab questions:

1. why is it important to blend the powders using the \doubling\ technique, rather than simply blending all of

the powdered ingredients together at the same time?

1. why do all of the tablets need to be triturated separately?

Explanation:

Question 1

The "doubling" technique (geometric dilution) ensures uniform mixing, especially when one powder is in a much smaller quantity than others. Simply blending all at once may lead to uneven distribution (e.g., the small - quantity powder clumping or not dispersing properly), resulting in inconsistent product potency.

Triturating tablets separately ensures that each tablet has a consistent composition and quality. If tablets are not triturated separately, there could be variations in the amount of active ingredients or the overall composition of each tablet, leading to inconsistent dosing or product quality. Also, it helps in achieving the desired particle size and uniformity for each individual tablet.

Answer:

The "doubling" technique (geometric dilution) ensures uniform mixing of powders, especially when there are large differences in the quantities of the powdered ingredients. If all powdered ingredients are blended at the same time, the ingredient present in a smaller quantity may not be evenly distributed, leading to inconsistent product quality (e.g., inconsistent potency in a medicinal powder).

Question 2