Tablets breaking

Obtain five effervescent antacid tablets. Break each tablet into four equal pieces. One of these pieces will be used for each trial. 

The hardness of a tablet is manipulated by adjusting the constituent proportions of sugars. Two forms of these tablets can be made one is called a hypodermic tablet, it easily dissolves in water and is not a hard tablet. These types of tablets break down (mechanically) very easily during storage and transport. The second type is harder and retains its shape in transport. A general formula for hard tablets appears in Remington s Practice of Pharmacy five parts lactose to one part sucrose. The composition is moistened with 70% alcohol and mixed thoroughly. 

Tablet Excipients. One of the important goals in tableting process is to produce tablets which are uniform in weight and strong enough to withstand the rigors of processing and packaging. It is also equally important that the tablets break down and dissolve upon administration for the release of the drug. Tablets with such desirable pharmaceutical properties can be prepared by using various types of polymeric excipients. It is the excipients that determine the compressibility, hardness, hygroscopy, friability, lubricity, stability, and dissolution rate of the prepared tablets.

That tablets break into unequal halves may not be clinically relevant, but patients tend to think it is important. 

U.S.P. Convention, General Chapter <1217> Tablet Breaking Force, The United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Rockville, 2009. 

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