A radioactive substance has a half-life of 20 days what fraction the original radiation nuclei will remain after 80 days?
Answer Details
The half-life of a radioactive substance is the time it takes for half of the original radioactive nuclei to decay. If the half-life of a substance is 20 days, this means that after 20 days, half of the original nuclei would have decayed, and half would remain. After another 20 days (a total of 40 days), half of the remaining nuclei would have decayed, leaving a quarter of the original nuclei. Similarly, after 60 days, half of the remaining quarter of nuclei would have decayed, leaving one-eighth of the original nuclei. Finally, after 80 days, half of the remaining one-eighth of nuclei would have decayed, leaving one-sixteenth of the original nuclei. Therefore, the fraction of the original radiation nuclei that will remain after 80 days is 1/16. So, the correct option is: (1)/16.