Exponential decay: Half-life

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  1. half-life decay

    Strontium-90 is a radioactive substance with a half-life of 28 days.
    How many days will it take for a 200 gram sample of strontium-90 to be
    reduced to 8 grams?

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    Topic Basics
    In the field of nuclear physics, half-life refers to the amount of time required for radioactive substances to decay into half. In this lesson, we will work on word questions about exponential decay of radioactive substances.
    exponential growth/decay: Af=Ai(f)timeperiod { A_f = A_i (f)^{time\over period}}

    Af {A_f} : final amount
    Ai {A_i} : initial amount
    f {f }
    : growth/decay factor
    half-time→f=12 \to f = {1\over 2}
    triple
    →f=3\to f = {3}
    ten-fold
    →f=10 \to f = {10}
    increase by 10%→f=(1+10100)=1.1 \to f = {({1 + {10\over 100}}) } { = 1.1}
    decrease by 8%→f=(1−8100)=0.92 \to f = {({1 - {8\over 100}}) } { = 0.92}
    time {time} : total time given
    period {period} : every length of time
    Topic Prereqs
    Related Topics