A radioactive element has a half-life of 2,000 years. If a sample of this element begins with a mass of 100 grams, how long would you have to wait for the mass to decrease to 25 grams?A.4,000 yearsB.8,000 yearsC.500 yearsD.2,000 yearsSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS
Question
A radioactive element has a half-life of 2,000 years. If a sample of this element begins with a mass of 100 grams, how long would you have to wait for the mass to decrease to 25 grams?A.4,000 yearsB.8,000 yearsC.500 yearsD.2,000 yearsSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS
Solution
The half-life of a radioactive element is the time it takes for half of the element to decay. In this case, the half-life is 2,000 years.
Step 1: After 2,000 years (one half-life), half of the 100 grams would have decayed. So, we would be left with 50 grams.
Step 2: After another 2,000 years (another half-life), half of the remaining 50 grams would have decayed. So, we would be left with 25 grams.
Therefore, it would take 2,000 years + 2,000 years =
Similar Questions
The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for a quantity of the isotope to be reduced to half its initial mass. Starting with 175 grams of a radioactive isotope, how much will be left after 4 half-lives?
A certain element decays at a constant rate of 6% per year.If you start with 20 grams of the element, how long will it take before there are only four grams left?
A certain element decays at a constant rate of 3% per year.If you start with 15 grams of the element, how long will it take before there are only three grams left?a.)52.8 yearsb.)51.8 yearsc.)54.4 yearsd.)53.4 years
Uranium-235 has a half-life of 7.038×108 years.(i) Determine the time required for the mass of 235U in a sample originally containing 1.000 g of 235U to decrease to 0.125 g.
radioactive isotope decays with a rate proportional to the original amountof material present. If originally there is 50mg of the material present and aftertwo hours it has lost 10% of its mass, determine the half-life, the time at which itis half its original mass.
Upgrade your grade with Knowee
Get personalized homework help. Review tough concepts in more detail, or go deeper into your topic by exploring other relevant questions.