One “standard drink” of 80-proof liquor is how many ounces?

General
1

one “standard drink” of 80-proof liquor is how many ounces?

2

LectureNotes said one “standard drink” of 80-proof liquor is how many ounces?

Answer:
A “standard drink” is a measure used to quantify alcohol consumption and is defined by the amount of pure alcohol it contains. In the United States, one “standard drink” contains approximately 0.6 fluid ounces (14 grams) of pure alcohol. This concept helps standardize the measurement of alcoholic beverages regardless of their varying strengths and sizes.

Understanding 80-Proof Liquor:

  1. Proof Measurement:

    • In the U.S., the proof of an alcoholic beverage is twice the alcohol by volume (ABV). Therefore, 80-proof liquor contains 40% alcohol by volume.

  2. Calculating a Standard Drink:

    • To find out how many fluid ounces of 80-proof liquor correspond to one standard drink, we need to determine how much of the 40% alcohol content equals 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol.

Steps:

  1. Pure Alcohol Content Calculation:

    • Given: 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol in a standard drink.
    • 80-proof liquor is 40% alcohol by volume.

  2. Volume Calculation:

    • To find the volume of 80-proof liquor that contains 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol:

      Let ( V ) be the volume of 80-proof liquor in fluid ounces required to achieve 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol.

      ( 0.4 \times V = 0.6 )

  3. Solving for ( V ):

    • Rearrange the equation to solve for ( V ):

      V = \frac{0.6}{0.4}

    • Calculate ( V ):

      V = 1.5

Final Answer:
Thus, one “standard drink” of 80-proof liquor is 1.5 fluid ounces. This standardized measure helps individuals monitor their alcohol consumption accurately across different types of alcoholic beverages.