Analytical estimates of the respirable fractions on inhaled pharmaceutical aerosols are obtained by inertial sampling techniques. The respirable fraction may be defined as that portion of the particle size distribution less than a designated diameter. The diameter size below which particles were considered respirable in these studies was 6.4 micrometers. In clinical practice, a variety of particle size distributions may be related to a single respirable fraction. Herein, three respirable fractions were each defined by six particle size distributions. The deposition patterns of aerosols exhibiting these particle size characteristics were examined in a mathematical model. The analytically defined respirable fractions were compared with predicted lung deposition values. Under clearly defined breathing conditions, there is a correlation between the nominal respirable fraction and deposition. However, it was concluded that the variations which occur in breathing parameters within patient populations may not allow a single analytically derived respirable fraction to be appropriate for all individual subjects. (Copyright (c) 1992 Plenum Publishing Corporation.)