Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Notes
The
rate
of
decay
of
radioisotopes
is
measured
by
a
__________
-‐
_________.
One
half-‐life
is
the
time
it
takes
for
___________
-‐
______________
the
atoms
in
a
sample
of
radioactive
material
to
decay.
Example:
An
element
has
a
half-‐life
of
4
years.
This
means
that
it
will
take
4
years
for
half
of
a
sample
of
this
element
to
decay.
If
you
start
with
100
g
of
this
element
how
much
will
you
have
after
12
years?
How
many
half-‐lives
is
this?
Number
of
Number
of
Number
of
years
for
two
years
for
three
years
for
one
half-‐
lives
=
half-‐lives=
3
x
half-‐
life
years
one
half
2
x
years
one
life
half
life
Amount
of
Half
the
Half
the
Half
the
am
original
amount
of
amount
of
the
previou
sample
the
previous
the
previous
AND
amou
box
box
after
3
half-‐
Steps
to
solve
HALF
LIFE
problems:
1.Put
ORIGINAL
amount
of
sample
into
first
box
2.Put
number
of
years
for
one
half
life
over
first
arrow
3.Divide
original
amount
in
half-‐
put
that
number
into
second
box
4.Multiple
years
of
one
half
life
by
2
and
put
above
second
arrow
5.Repeat
steps
3
and
4
until
you
get
to
the
desired
number
of
half-‐
lives
or
years.
*To
get
the
number
of
half-‐lives
just
count
the
number
of
arrows
**To
get
the
half-‐life:
take
the
total
number
of
years
and
divide
by
the
number
of
half-‐lives
(arrows)
it
took
to
get
to
the
remaining
mass