To find out how much antibiotic is left in the dog after 16 hours, we can use a simple formula that helps us understand how the amount decreases over time. The formula is:
\[ A = A_0 \times (1 - r)^n \]
Here's what the parts mean:
- \( A \) is how much antibiotic is left.
- \( A_0 \) is how much antibiotic we started with.
- \( r \) is how quickly it decays (like how much is lost).
- \( n \) is how many time intervals we count.
Now, let's use the numbers given:
- The starting amount \( A_0 \) is 200 mg.
- The decay rate \( r \) is 0.25, which means 25% of the antibiotic is gone each time period.
- The total time \( t \) we are looking at is 16 hours.
First, we need to figure out how many time intervals of 4 hours fit into 16 hours:
\[ n = \frac{t}{4} = \frac{16}{4} = 4 \]
This means there are 4 intervals of 4 hours in 16 hours.
Next, we can put the values into the equation:
\[ A = 200 \times (1 - 0.25)^4 \]
First, let's calculate \( (1 - 0.25) \):
\[ 1 - 0.25 = 0.75 \]
Now, we plug that back into our equation:
\[ A = 200 \times (0.75)^4 \]
Now we need to calculate \( (0.75)^4 \):
\[ (0.75)^4 = 0.75 \times 0.75 \times 0.75 \times 0.75 \]
Doing the math step by step:
- \( 0.75 \times 0.75 = 0.5625 \)
- \( 0.5625 \times 0.75 = 0.421875 \)
- \( 0.421875 \times 0.75 = 0.31640625 \)
Now we can substitute this back into our equation:
\[ A = 200 \times 0.31640625 \]
Calculating that gives us:
\[ A \approx 63.28125 \]
So, the amount of antibiotic left in the dog after 16 hours is about:
\[ \boxed{63.28} \text{ mg} \]
That's how much is still in the dog after all that time!