Q1. Briefly describe how the physical properties of materials used to produce tablets influence flow ability. Construct a chart of the flow studies and comment on the results.

There are a variety of properties that will affect the flow ability of a tablet, some of these factors will include physical properties such as particle size and the amount of fine particles. The size of the particles can be a significant factor in influencing the overall flow ability, as when the particles become too small (below 50 m), there will be no flow as the cohesive forces between the particles will be greater than the driving force. There will also be no flow for particles that are too large (above 1200 m), as the resistance force will be greater than the gravitational …show more content…
The melting point of the API, ibuprofen, is 75 °C7, and once it is melted, it will cause significant issues during tabletting. Due to the change in state of ibuprofen, it will be more tightly bound to the excipients in the formulation, which will affect the disintegration of the tablet. Once the ibuprofen has melted, it will also cause issues during the compaction process. The melted ibuprofen and stick to the upper punch, cool, and solidify. This will cause a dent to be made in all of the other tablets as they pass through the machine, affecting the appearance and the uniformity of shape. The heat which has caused the ibuprofen to melt may also affect its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties due to an alteration in …show more content…
The wet granulation assay was carried out by grinding 20 tablets into a powder and dissolving them in a phosphate buffer followed by being thoroughly mixed in a sonic bath for 10 minutes. A sample was then extracted from the mixture and further diluted using the phosphate buffer and was measured via UV spectrophotometry at a wavelength of 221 m3. From this absorbance measurement recorded in Table 8, the concentration of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), ibuprofen, could be calculated, which came to 215.049 mg per tablet. In order to pass this quality control test, the tablets must meet the standards of the British Pharmacopeia , i.e. The individual ingredient must be within a ±15% range of the average content for that ingredient, ibuprofen (200 mg) in this instance4. Our tablets were able to satisfy this requirement as they were only 7.5% over the average weight for ibuprofen. The increase in expected weight of ibuprofen in the tablets can be attributed to the manufacturing process and the loss of some excipients during the tabletting process. The increase in the value can also be linked to the varying amounts of ibuprofen in each tablet whilst still being within the ±15% range of the average amount, i.e. one tablet could be 5% over the average weight and another could be 5% under. The overall accuracy of the