The half life of radioactive radon is 3.8 days . The time , at end of ...
The half-life of a radioactive substance is the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample to decay. In the case of radioactive radon, its half-life is 3.8 days. This means that after 3.8 days, half of the radon atoms in a sample will have decayed, and after another 3.8 days, half of the remaining radon atoms will have decayed, and so on.
To find the time at which 1/20th of the radon sample will remain undecayed, we can use the concept of exponential decay. The formula for exponential decay is given by:
N(t) = N₀ * (1/2)^(t/T)
Where:
- N(t) is the number of undecayed atoms at time t
- N₀ is the initial number of undecayed atoms
- t is the time that has passed
- T is the half-life of the substance
Now let's break down the solution into steps:
1. Determine the fraction of undecayed radon atoms remaining after a given time.
- In this case, we want to find the time at which 1/20th (or 1/2^4) of the radon sample will remain undecayed. This means the fraction of undecayed atoms remaining is (1/2)^4.
2. Set up the exponential decay equation.
- Using the formula N(t) = N₀ * (1/2)^(t/T), we can substitute the fraction of undecayed atoms remaining into the equation. The equation becomes (1/2)^4 = N₀ * (1/2)^(t/3.8).
3. Solve for t.
- To find the value of t, we need to isolate it in the equation. We can do this by taking the logarithm of both sides of the equation. Using logarithm base 2 (since we have a fraction of 1/2), the equation becomes log₂((1/2)^4) = log₂(N₀ * (1/2)^(t/3.8)).
4. Simplify the equation.
- The logarithm of (1/2)^4 is equal to 4 times the logarithm of 1/2. Using the logarithmic property log₂(a^b) = b * log₂(a), the equation simplifies to 4 * log₂(1/2) = log₂(N₀ * (1/2)^(t/3.8)).
5. Solve for t.
- Now we can solve for t by dividing both sides of the equation by log₂(1/2). This gives us 4 = log₂(N₀ * (1/2)^(t/3.8)) / log₂(1/2). Using the logarithmic property log₂(a) / log₂(b) = log_b(a), the equation further simplifies to 4 = log(1/2) / log(2) * (t/3.8).
6. Calculate the value of t.
- Finally, we can solve for t by multiplying both sides of the equation by 3.8 and dividing by 4. This gives us t = (4 * log(1/2) / log(2)) * 3.8.
7. Evaluate the expression to find
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