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Question on Radioactive Decay |
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The half-life of radioactive zinc is 50 hours. Find the percentage loss of activity which occurs for a sample each hour.
Nt = XN0 (where X = factor of radioisotope remaining undecayed) t = 1 hour half life = 50 hours So,l = ln2/(half life) = 0.693/50 hours-1 = 0.01386 hours-1 Now, X = e-lt So taking logs we get ln X = -lt Substituting for l ln X = - 0.01386 x 1 = -0.01386 Look up the antilog X = 0.986 Therefore the percentage undecayed = 98.6% and the percentage decayed = 1.4% loss of activity after 1 hour = 1.4% |
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