What can I do for a scratchy throat and dry cough?

Your throat is dry, and you want the last cough drop in the box to last a long time in your mouth. What should?

• Your throat is dry, and you want the last cough drop in the box to last a long time in your mouth. What should you do? a. Break the cough drop into little pieces and put them all in your mouth. Since each little piece must be dissolved separately, the drop will last longer. b. It doesn't matter if the cough drop is in one piece or many pieces; the total amount of cough drop is all that matters. c. Keep the cough drop whole. This maintains the largest surface-to-volume ratio, and slows the dissolution of the cough drop. d. Break the cough drop into little pieces, put them all in your mouth, and drink plenty of water. e. Break the cough drop into little pieces and put them all in your mouth. This decreases the surface-to-volume ratio, and slows the dissolution of the cough drop.

• Answer:

  c. Keep the cough drop whole. This maintains the largest surface-to-volume ratio, and slows the dissolution of the cough drop. Surface area keeps the dissolving to a minimum because less area is actually exposed. To put it in simple terms, if you have a pyramid, there are 4 sides, including the base. If you take the 3 triangular sides and the base and separate them, twice as many sides are exposed. -Andrew