Ever Wonder ...
Have you ever wonder what the inside of an inhaler looks like?
My youngest has been using Advair brand inhaler for the better part of the year. My oldest, ever the curious one about how things work, wanted to take it apart when it was finished. He's brought home a multitude of electronics and devices curious about their inner workings. This, with no electric parts inside, the temptation to see how it worked intrigued him (and me too!)
So, why not take it apart? We always take them back to the pharmacy for proper disposal, in case there is extra medication still inside and we have a few to return. Big deal if we're short one. So we studied it to determine the best way to start the de-construction phase.
Each one of those blister packs contains one dose. As it rolls through, the covering is peeled back from it (and rolled around another wheel) and the medication is breathed up through the mouthpiece.
It was fascinating to pull out the strip of dosed powder and count. In a 60 dose package, there are in fact 60 doses, plus a starter near the beginning. We thought there maybe a dose or two more. Considering we pay over $100 per inhaler, I guess they won't give any away.
With the strip of medication disposed of--there was nothing left on the strip and thus, we're not harming our waste by tossing it in--my oldest enjoyed playing with the empty container and resetting the counter back to zero. Now he's really curious how his brother's new and different inhalers work, so when he's finished with that one, we'll take that apart and compare.
(ETA. We did. Click here to read about THAT inhaler.)
:) There's always a science lesson in our house.
Have you ever taken anything apart?
Thanks for reading!
My youngest has been using Advair brand inhaler for the better part of the year. My oldest, ever the curious one about how things work, wanted to take it apart when it was finished. He's brought home a multitude of electronics and devices curious about their inner workings. This, with no electric parts inside, the temptation to see how it worked intrigued him (and me too!)
So, why not take it apart? We always take them back to the pharmacy for proper disposal, in case there is extra medication still inside and we have a few to return. Big deal if we're short one. So we studied it to determine the best way to start the de-construction phase.
The cover and mouthpiece came off easily enough.
With a couple of lego swords (because why not?) we were able to separate the two halves and let our true adventure and investigation begin.
It was neat to see how the medication rolled through the mechanisms.
Each one of those blister packs contains one dose. As it rolls through, the covering is peeled back from it (and rolled around another wheel) and the medication is breathed up through the mouthpiece.
It was fascinating to pull out the strip of dosed powder and count. In a 60 dose package, there are in fact 60 doses, plus a starter near the beginning. We thought there maybe a dose or two more. Considering we pay over $100 per inhaler, I guess they won't give any away.
With the strip of medication disposed of--there was nothing left on the strip and thus, we're not harming our waste by tossing it in--my oldest enjoyed playing with the empty container and resetting the counter back to zero. Now he's really curious how his brother's new and different inhalers work, so when he's finished with that one, we'll take that apart and compare.
(ETA. We did. Click here to read about THAT inhaler.)
:) There's always a science lesson in our house.
Have you ever taken anything apart?
Thanks for reading!
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