BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MEDICAL

LABORATORY SCIENCE:
CLINICAL CHEMISTRY 1
COURSE MODULE COURSE UNIT WEEK
1 2 2
Laboratory Mathematics

✔ Read course and unit objectives

✔ Read study guide prior to class attendance
✔ Read required learning resources; refer to unit
terminologies for jargons
✔ Proactively participate in classroom discussions
✔ Participate in weekly discussion board (Canvas)
✔ Answer and submit course unit tasks

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

Cognitive:
1. Execute unit conversions precisely.
2. Analyze and compute laboratory calculations properly

Affective:
1. Inculcate sincerely importance of a reward system in organizations
2. Listen attentively during class discussions
 3. Demonstrate tact and respect when challenging other people’s opinions and ideas
4. Accept comments and reactions of classmates on one’s opinions openly and graciously.

Psychomotor:
1. Participate actively during class discussions
2. Confidently express personal opinion and thoughts in front of the class

Bishop, M. L., Fody, E. P., & Schoeff, L. E. (2018). Clinical Chemistry: Principles, Techniques, and
Correlations. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
pp. 6-11, 16-18, 43-65
Rifai, N., Horvath, A. R., & Wittwer, C. 1. (2018). Tietz textbook of clinical chemistry and molecular
diagnostics. Sixth edition. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier.
pp. 20-21

10 Items of the Assessment Task will be obtained from this Study Guide

LABORATORY MATHEMATICS

2 Components of Quantitative Laboratory Result

• Actual Value
• Unit

Measurement - is the determination of the dimensions, capacity, quantity, or extent of something.

In chemical laboratories, the most common types of measurements are those of mass, volume,
length, time, temperature, pressure, and concentration.
Units of Measurement
• English System – defined as the measurement system used in many countries such as the
United States using pounds, yard, miles, pint, etc.
• Metric System – derived from the Greek word “metron” meaning “measure. This system of
measurement is used in scientific work which includes gram, meter and liter.

PHYSICAL METRIC ENGLISH

QUANTITY SYSTEM SYSTEM

Length Meter Inch, foot, mile

Mass Gram Ounce, pound, ton

Volume Liter Pint, quart, gallon

Power Watt Horsepower

Torque Newton-meter Pound-foot

Temperature Degree Celsius Degree Farenheit

International System of Units / Le Système international d'unites (SI Units)

• It Is the modern form of the metric system and is the world’s most widely used system of
measurement; used in both everyday commerce and science.
• Sub-Classification
o Basic Units – units that do not take support of other physical quantities for its
measurement. There are 7 base units.
o Derived Units – These are quantities that are derived from the 7 base units. Ex: meters
per second (m/s)
o Non-SI units – are so widely used that they have become acceptable for use with SI
basic or SI-derived units. EX: hour, minute, day, gram, liter, and plane angles expressed
as degrees.
SOLUTION PREPARATIONS
• Solution - is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances with each substance
retaining its own chemical identity.
• Solvent – is the component of a solution that is present in the greatest amount.
• Solute – is a component of a solution that is present in a lesser amount relative to that of
the solvent.

Most of the tests in the clinical laboratory involve measurement of solutes/analytes in

solutions. These solutions most often being blood, serum, urine, spinal fluid, and other
body fluids.

The concentrations of these solutes are expressed using the following

a. Percent Solutions
b. Molarity
c. Molality
d. Normality
A. Percent Solutions - determined in the same manner regardless of whether weight/weight,
volume/volume, or weight/volume units are used. Percent implies "parts per 100", which is
represented as percent (%) and is independent of the molecular weight of a substance.

a. Percent Weight/Weight (Mass/Mass)

- Number of grams of solute per 100 grams of solution
Formula = mass of solute (g) x 100
mass of solution (g)

c. Percent Volume/Volume
- amount of solute per 100 mL of solution
Formula = volume of solute (mL) x 100
volume of solution (mL)

b. Percent Weight/Volume (Mass/Volume)

- number of grams of solute per 100 mL of solution
Formula = mass of solute (g) x 100
volume of solution (mL)

B. Molarity - routinely expressed in units of moles per liter (mol/L) or sometimes millimoles per
millimoles (mmol/mL) or "M". Number of moles is expressed by dividing the mass of solute in
grams by its gram molecular weight (GMW).
Formula = number of moles of solute or mass of solute in grams
volume of solution in liters GMW of Solute x volume of sol'n in
liter

C. Molality - expressed the amount of solute per 1 kg of the solvent and expressed in terms of
mol/kg or "m"
Formula = number of moles of solute or mass of solute in grams
mass of solvent in kilograms GMW of Solute x mass of solvent (kg)

D. Normality - expressed as the number of equivalent weights per liter (Eq/L) or milliequivalents
per milliliter (mmol/mL). Equivalent weight (EW) is equivalent to GMW divided by the valence.
Formula = number of moles of solute
 (EW) x volume of sol'n in liter

DILUTION

• This represents the ratio of concentrated or stock material to the total final volume of a
solution and consists of the volume or weight of the concentrate plus the volume of the
diluent, with the concentration units remaining the same.
• In the molar, normal or percentage solutions, the amount of solute contained in a given
volume of solution is equal to the product of volume times the concentration.
• Whenever the solution is diluted, the volume is increased and its concentration is
decreased but the total amount of solute remain unchanged.

Dilution of Stock solutions:

(C ¿¿ 1)(V ¿¿ 1)=( C¿¿ 2)(V ¿¿ 2) ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

C1 = Concentration of the stock solution

V1 = Volume of the stock solution
C2 = Concentration of the diluted solution
V2 = Volume of the Diluted Solution

BASIC CLINICAL LABORATORY CONVERSIONS

UNIT CONVERSIONS
International System of Units (SI units) – It Is the modern form of the metric system and is the
world’s most widely used system of measurement

Dilution – is the process in which more solvent is added to a solution in order to lower its
concentration
Stoker, H.S. (2015), General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 7 th Edition, Solutions (pp.192-
205). Cengage Learning

Study Questions

• What is the percent-by-mass, %(m/m), concentration of sucrose (table sugar) in a solution

made by dissolving 7.6 g of sucrose in 83.4 g of water?

• Dissolve 1.2g of NaCl in enough water to make 160mL of saline solution, what is the w/v %
of NaCl?

• 4.35 moles of KMnO4 are dissolved in enough water to give 750 mL of solution. Determine
the molarity.

• Compute for the Normality: 10 M H2SO4

Bishop, M.L., Fody, E.P., and Schoeff, L.E. (2018) Clinical Chemistry: Principles, Techniques and
Correlations 8th Edition, Laboratory Mathematics and Calculations (pp. 19-23). Philadelphia:
Wolters Kluwer Health

Stoker, H.S. (2015), General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 7 th Edition, Solutions (pp.192-
205). Cengage Learning