Practise Antibiotics and painkillers. 14 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
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Doctors use different types of medicine to treat diseases. Name one antibiotic.
Penicillin
Antibiotics and painkillers are both used to treat illness, but they work in very different ways. Give one example of a painkiller.
Paracetamol (or ibuprofen / aspirin)
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy5 marks
Doctors use different types of medicine to treat diseases.
(a) What do antibiotics do? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
Kill bacteria inside the body
Kill viruses inside the body
Make the body produce antibodies
Reduce pain but do not kill pathogens
(b) Name one antibiotic.[1]
(c) Many people with a cold take painkillers, such as paracetamol. Explain why painkillers do not cure a cold.[2]
(d) Give the reason why doctors do not prescribe antibiotics for a cold.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: Kill bacteria inside the body
(b)Answer: Penicillin
penicillin
(c)
painkillers only treat the symptoms
(they) do not kill the pathogen / virus
(d)
colds are caused by viruses and antibiotics do not kill viruses
Question 2Medium7 marks
A patient has a throat infection caused by a bacterium. A doctor prescribes an antibiotic and tells the patient to take a painkiller as well.
(a) Explain why the doctor must choose an antibiotic that is effective against the specific bacterium causing the infection.[2]
(b) Explain the different roles of the antibiotic and the painkiller in treating the patient.[2]
(c) The use of antibiotics has greatly reduced deaths from bacterial diseases. Give one reason why scientists are concerned about the future use of antibiotics.[1]
(d) It is difficult to develop drugs that kill viruses. Explain why.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
different antibiotics kill different types of bacteria / specific bacteria must be treated with specific antibiotics
(otherwise) the bacteria would not be killed and the infection would not be cured
(b)
the antibiotic kills the bacteria (causing the infection)
the painkiller relieves the symptoms / pain but does not kill the bacteria
(c)
strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics are emerging / becoming more common
(d)
viruses live / reproduce inside the body's cells
(so) drugs that kill viruses may also damage the body's cells / tissues
Question 3Hard9 marks
A doctor prescribed an antibiotic for a child with a bacterial infection. The daily dose is 25 mg of antibiotic per kg of body mass, split into 3 equal doses. The child has a mass of 18 kg.
(a) Calculate the mass of antibiotic in each dose.[2]
(b) The antibiotic is supplied as a liquid containing 250 mg of antibiotic in every 5 cm3. Calculate the volume of liquid the child should be given in each dose.[2]
(c) The child also had a painful ear and a high temperature, so was given a painkiller. The maximum daily dose of the painkiller is 60 mg per kg of body mass. The painkiller liquid contains 120 mg in every 5 cm3. Calculate the maximum volume of painkiller liquid the child can be given in one day.[3]
(d) Explain why the child was given a painkiller as well as the antibiotic.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: 150 mg
25 × 18 (= 450 mg per day)
450 ÷ 3 = 150 (mg)
(b)Answer: 3 cm3
150 ÷ 250 × 5
3 (cm3)
(c)Answer: 45 cm3
60 × 18 = 1080 (mg)
1080 ÷ 120 (= 9) × 5
45 (cm3)
(d)
the painkiller relieves the symptoms / pain / high temperature
(but) it does not kill the bacteria, so the antibiotic is needed to cure the infection