A radioactive kind of nitrogen has a half life of 10 minutes. If you start with 64 grams of the substance, how much will be left after 20 minutes?
amount = 64(1/2)^(t/10) , where t is in minutes, and amount is in g.
sub in t = 20
To determine how much radioactive substance will be left after a certain amount of time, we can use the concept of half-life.
The half-life of a radioactive substance is the time it takes for half of the substance to decay or transform into another element. In this case, the half-life of the radioactive nitrogen is given as 10 minutes.
Given that the initial amount of the substance is 64 grams, we can calculate how many half-lives have passed in 20 minutes:
Number of half-lives = Total time elapsed / Half-life duration
Number of half-lives = 20 minutes / 10 minutes
Number of half-lives = 2
Since two half-lives have passed, the initial amount will be reduced to 1/2 * 1/2 or 1/4 of the original amount.
Therefore, the amount of radioactive nitrogen remaining after 20 minutes will be:
64 grams * 1/4 = 16 grams.