The half life of a radioactive material is 12 days. Calculate the decay constant.
Question 1 Report
The half life of a radioactive material is 12 days. Calculate the decay constant.
Answer Details
The decay constant of a radioactive material represents the probability that an atom of the material will decay in a unit of time. In this case, we are given the half-life of the material which is the time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to decay.
The relationship between the decay constant (λ) and the half-life (T½) is given by the formula:
λ = ln(2) / T½
where ln(2) is the natural logarithm of 2.
To find the decay constant, we can plug in the given half-life value into the formula. In this case, the half-life is 12 days.
λ = ln(2) / 12
Using a calculator, we can calculate the value of ln(2) ≈ 0.6931.
λ = 0.6931 / 12 ≈ 0.05775 day^(-1)
Therefore, the decay constant for this radioactive material is approximately 0.05775 day^(-1).
The correct answer is 0.05775 day^(-1).
The relationship between the decay constant (λ) and the half-life (T½) is given by the formula:
λ = ln(2) / T½
where ln(2) is the natural logarithm of 2.
To find the decay constant, we can plug in the given half-life value into the formula. In this case, the half-life is 12 days.
λ = ln(2) / 12
Using a calculator, we can calculate the value of ln(2) ≈ 0.6931.
λ = 0.6931 / 12 ≈ 0.05775 day^(-1)
Therefore, the decay constant for this radioactive material is approximately 0.05775 day^(-1).
The correct answer is 0.05775 day^(-1).
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