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1 January, 10:54

Maggie was doing research for her Ph. D. in physics when a 12 mg sample of radioactive material decayed to 3 mg in 26 minutes. Determine the half life of this substance.

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  1. 1 January, 10:59
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    The general way to work this out is to solve the general expression for

    the remaining quantity versus half-life, using logarithms. But that's not

    necessary with these numbers.

    Look at the numbers:

    - - 3 mg is 1/4 of 12 mg.

    - - 1/4 is the product of (1/2) x (1/2).

    - - So the 3 mg is what's left of 12 mg after 2 half-lives.

    The 26 minutes must be two half-lives.

    - - The half-life of that substance is 26/2 = 13 minutes.

    Go Maggie!
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