Investigating the half-life of Protactinium

Time / t (s) 0-10 12.5-22.5 25-35 37.5-47.5 50-60 62.5-72.5 75-85 87.5-97.5 100-110 112.5-122.5 125-135 137.5-147.5 150-160 162.5-172.5 175-185 187,5-197,5 200-210 212,5-222,5 225-235 237,5-247,5 250-260 262,5-272,5 Activity (counts per second) A / Bq 28.6 24.7 21.3 17.7 17.8 14.8 13.8 10.3 10.6 9.2 10.1 6.4 6.3 4.2 4.8 3.7 4.7 3.8 4 2.1 1.6 1.6

What to do: 1. Process your data by completing the table above.

1. Process your data by completing the table above. 2. Write example calculations in the space below for all the calculations you have to used in 1 above. Once the calculations for 10 seconds have been recorded, in order to calculate the counts pero 10 seconds, w The calculations were done like these: Counts in 10 seconds (C) - Background count (B) As an example: 292-6=286

Once that was done, the activity of counts er second needed to be calculated. In order to do that we had to d For example: 286/10 = 28,6

3. Use Excel to plot a graph of Activity (Y axis) against time (X axis) for Protactinium. Add a best fit logarithmic

Graph plotting time against activity of proctactinium per second

Activity of proctactinium per second 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 y = -9.409ln(x) + 30.826 0-10 12.5-22.5 25-35 37.5-47.5 50-60 62.5-72.5 75-85 87.5-97.5 100-110 112.5-122.5 125-135 137.5-147.5 150-160 162.5-172.5 175-185 187,5-197,5 200-210 212,5-222,5 225-235 237,5-247,5 250-260 262,5-272,5 Log. (Activity (counts per second) A / Bq) Activity (counts per second) A / Bq

Time/ t (s)

4. Use the graph to find the half-life of Protactinium.

5. "The half-life of the radioactive sample does not change with time". Use your graph to provide evidence to In order to prove the statement to be true, two set of acitivites of proctactinium will be taken. The activity of 20 compared to the activity of 10, the half life is 75. The activity of 10 to the acitivity of 5, the half life is 75. Both of these set of activities compared have a half lif both have a half life of 75. 6. Submit your work via Turnitin. 7. Present your completed work on your blog in a siutable format.

Background count rate/ n6 counts Average time for interval 5 17.5 30 42.5 55 67.5 80 92.5 105 117.5 130 142.5 155 167.5 Counts in 10 seconds 292 253 219 183 184 154 144 109 112 98 107 70 69 48 54 43 53 44 46 27 22 22

o used in 1 above. counts pero 10 seconds, we had to subtract 6 from the background count.

der to do that we had to divide 10 from the previous set of results.

m. Add a best fit logarithmic line to your data and show the equation on your graph

actinium

(counts per second) A / Bq

ctivity (counts per second) A /

aph to provide evidence to support this statement. ll be taken.

es compared have a half life of 75 which proves the statement that the half life of a radioactive sample in this case proctactan

Background count rate/ n6 counts in 10 seconds Counts per 10 seconds minus background count 286 247 213 177 178 148 138 103 106 92 101 64 63 42 48 37 47 38 40 21 16 16 Activity (counts per second) A / Bq 28.6 24.7 21.3 17.7 17.8 14.8 13.8 10.3 10.6 9.2 10.1 6.4 6.3 4.2 4.8 3.7 4.7 3.8 4 2.1 1.6 1.6

life of a radioactive sample in this case proctactaniuk does not change with time and it can be seen as