A freshly prepared radioactive sample of half-lif 1 hour emits radiati...
Given information:
- Half-life of the radioactive sample = 1 hour
- Radiations emitted by the sample are 128 times the permissible safe limit.
To find: Minimum time after which the sample can be safely used.
Solution:
Let the initial intensity of radiations emitted by the sample be I₀.
After one half-life, the intensity becomes I₀/2.
After two half-lives, the intensity becomes (I₀/2)/2 = I₀/4.
Similarly, after three half-lives, the intensity becomes I₀/8, and so on.
The intensity of radiation emitted by the sample is given to be 128 times the permissible safe limit.
Let the permissible safe limit be L.
Then, I₀ = 128L.
To find the minimum time after which the sample can be safely used, we need to find the number of half-lives the sample must undergo to reduce its intensity to the permissible safe limit.
Let the number of half-lives the sample undergoes be n.
Then, (1/2)ⁿ I₀ = L.
Substituting I₀ = 128L, we get:
(1/2)ⁿ (128L) = L
=> (1/2)ⁿ = (1/128)
=> 2ⁿ = 128 = 2^7
=> n = 7.
Therefore, the sample must undergo 7 half-lives to reduce its intensity to the permissible safe limit.
Since the half-life of the sample is 1 hour, the minimum time after which the sample can be safely used is:
7 x 1 hour = 7 hours.
Hence, the correct answer is option (B).
A freshly prepared radioactive sample of half-lif 1 hour emits radiati...
The answer is b