in 2001 it was estimated that 189 kg of plutonuim still remained. the half life of this plutonuim is 24,000 years. how much will be present in 24,000 years from 2001? please help
duh - half as much (one half-life)
You have to cut it in half. So it will be 94.5 kg.
To determine how much plutonium will be present in 24,000 years from 2001, we need to understand the concept of half-life. The half-life is the time it takes for half of a substance to decay or change into another element.
Given that the half-life of plutonium is 24,000 years, we can use this information to calculate the amount of plutonium that will remain after 24,000 years.
Let's break down the problem step-by-step:
1. Start with the initial amount of plutonium in 2001, which is 189 kg.
2. Calculate the number of half-lives that occur in 24,000 years by dividing 24,000 by the half-life of 24,000 years. This will give us the number of times the substance decays completely in that time frame.
Number of half-lives = 24,000 years / 24,000 years = 1
3. Since only one half-life occurs within that time, we know that half of the plutonium will decay.
After one half-life, the amount of plutonium remaining will be 189 kg / 2 = 94.5 kg.
Therefore, after 24,000 years from 2001, it is estimated that approximately 94.5 kg of plutonium will remain.