Legend has it that the Greek philosopher, Socrates, died after drinking a tea ma

Question

Legend has it that the Greek philosopher, Socrates, died after drinking a tea made from hemlock leaves. Coniine, the toxic compound found in hemlock, is calculated to have an LD50 in humans of 10 mg/kg. If we assume Socrates weighed 200 lbs, how many grams of coniine would he have needed to ingest to give a 50% chance of causing his death? If Coniine is about 3% by weight of the hemlock leaves, how many grams of hemlock would need to be used to make the tea?



I do not know how I would show the work

Explanation / Answer

In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 (abbreviation for “lethal dose, 50%”), LC50 (lethal concentration, 50%) or LCt50 (lethal concentration & time) of a toxin,radiation, or pathogen is the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population after a specified test duration

The LD50 is usually expressed as the mass of substance administered per unit mass of test subject, typically as milligrams of substance per kilogram of body mass, but stated as nanograms (suitable for botulinum), micrograms, milligrams, or grams (suitable for paracetamol) per kilogram as toxicity decreases

LD 50 =10 mg /kg

200 pounds = 90.718 kilograms or 90 kilograms 718.474 grams

lethal dose 50 = 10mg *90.718 =900.718 grams

coiine is 3% of leaves

100 grams of leaves have 3 grams of coiine

so 900.718 grams of coiine requires30023.933 grams of leaves =30.023 kgs

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