The Half-Life Of A Certain Isotope Is 2 Hours.If The Original Mass of Isotope was 12,000 Grams,How Many Grams Would Be Left After 1 Day?

3 Answers
Feb 27, 2018

Here it is. After 24 hours, the mass of the isotope will be 2.93 grams

Explanation:

At time zero you have 12,000 grams.

time 2 hrs, you will have 6000 grams
time 4 hours, you will have 3000 grams
time 6 hours, you will have 1500 grams
time 8 hours, you will have 750 grams
time 10 hours, you will have 375 grams
time 12 hours, you will have 187.5 grams
time 14 hours, you will have 93.75 grams
time 16 hours, you will have 46.875 grams
time 18 hours, you will have 23.438 grams
time 20 hours, you will have 11.719 grams
time 22 hours, you will have 5.859 grams
time 24 hours. you will have nearly 2.93 grams.

Feb 27, 2018

The mass is =0.00293kg

Explanation:

The equation for the radioactive decay is

m(t)=m_0e^(-lambdat)

The initial mass is m_0=12kg

The half life is t_(1/2)=2h

The radioactive constant is

lambda=ln2/t_(1/2)=ln2/2

Therefore,

(m(t))/m_0=e^(-lambdat)

m_0/(m(t))=e^(lambdat)

lambdat=ln(m_0/(m(t)))

The time is t=24h

Therefore,

ln(m_0/(m(t)))=ln2/2*24=12ln2

m_0/(m(t))=e^(12ln2)=4096

m(t=24h)=12/4096=0.00293kg

Feb 27, 2018

I get 2.93 \ "g".

Explanation:

From here, If n is the number of half-lives elapsed, then there will be 100/(2^n)% of the substance left.

The half-life of this substance is 2 hours. One day is equal to 24 hours. So, after 1 day, the substance has elapsed 24/2=12 half-lives.

So, after 12 half-lives, their is only 100/(2^12)%=0.0244140625% of the substance left.

Multiplying that by the original mass, there will only be

0.0244140625%*12000 \ "g"=2.9296875 \ "g"~~2.93 \ "g"

Therefore, there will only be 2.93 grams of the substance left after one day.