How much base pseudoephedrine is contained in a 30mg tablet?

In a standard 30 mg tablet of pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient itself is pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, which is a salt form of the base pseudoephedrine. When considering the amount of base pseudoephedrine, it is important to recognize that this salt form is not equivalent to the amount of the base component due to its molecular weight.

The molecular weight of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride is approximately 202.71 g/mol, while the molecular weight of base pseudoephedrine is about 185.25 g/mol. To find the amount of base pseudoephedrine in the 30 mg tablet, there is a conversion process involved, calculated as follows:

1. The portion of the drug that is base pseudoephedrine can be found using the ratio of the molecular weights: [ \text{Base pseudoephedrine} = \frac{\text{Molecular weight of base pseudoephedrine}}{\text{Molecular weight of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride}} \times \text{Amount of salt} ] [ \text{Base pseudoephedrine} = \frac{185.25}{202.71} \times 30