The body’s reaction to medicine The reaction of the body to a dose of medicine can somet...

The body’s reaction to medicine The reaction of the body to a dose of medicine can sometimes be represented by an equation of the form

where C is a positive constant and M is the amount of medicine absorbed in the blood. If the reaction is a change in blood pressure, R is measured in millimeters of mercury. If the reaction is a change in temperature, R is measured in degrees, and so on.

Find dR/dM. This derivative, as a function of M, is called the sensitivity of the body to the medicine. In Section 4.5, we will see how to find the amount of medicine to which the body is most sensitive.