The half-life for the first-order conversion of A to B is 56.5 hours. How long does it take for the concentration of A to decrease to 10.0% of its original amount?

Our professor has given us the answer - 188hr but I am not entirely sure how he got it.

k = 0.693/t1/2

Substitute k into the below equation.

ln(No/N) = kt
No = 100
N = 10
k from above.
Solve for t in hours.

Well, if your professor is correct, then we can assume that he isn't pulling it out of thin air (or a hat, in my case). Let me try to explain it in a way that won't have you running away screaming for a refund.

The half-life is the time it takes for half of the original amount to decay. In this case, the half-life is 56.5 hours. So, after 56.5 hours, the concentration of A will be reduced by half.

If you want to find out when the concentration of A decreases to 10% of its original amount, you need to find out how many half-lives it takes to get there.

To do that, we can use the formula:
t = t_1/2 * log (N_0 / N_t)

Where:
- t is the time it takes for the concentration to decrease to a certain amount (we're solving for this)
- t_1/2 is the half-life (56.5 hours)
- N_0 is the initial concentration of A (100%)
- N_t is the final concentration of A (10%)

Plug in the values:
t = 56.5 * log (100% / 10%)

And after some wizardry with numbers, you should get approximately 188 hours.

So, according to your professor, it will take around 188 hours for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of its original amount. I hope that clears things up without causing any "clown-induced" confusion!

To determine how long it takes for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of its original amount, we can use the concept of half-life.

The half-life of a first-order reaction is defined as the time it takes for the concentration of the reactant to decrease by half.

In this case, the half-life is given as 56.5 hours.

To find the time required for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of the original amount, we need to determine how many half-life periods it takes for the concentration to reach this level.

Since each half-life is 56.5 hours, we can calculate the number of half-life periods by dividing the total time (T) by the half-life (t1/2).

So, T / t1/2 = number of half-life periods

Let's plug in the values:
T / 56.5 = number of half-life periods

We're given that the concentration of A needs to decrease to 10% of the original amount, which is equivalent to 0.1 times the initial concentration.

Now, to find the total time (T):

0.1 = (1/2)^(number of half-life periods)

Taking the logarithm (base 2) on both sides, we get:

log2(0.1) = log2((1/2)^(number of half-life periods))

log2(0.1) = number of half-life periods * log2(1/2)

Simplifying the right side:

log2(0.1) = -number of half-life periods

Now, to find the number of half-life periods (N):

N = log2(0.1) / -1

N ≈ 3.3219281

Since the number of half-life periods must be a whole number, we round N up to 4.

Finally, we can calculate the total time (T):

T = number of half-life periods * t1/2

T = 4 * 56.5

T = 226 hours

Therefore, it takes approximately 226 hours for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of its original amount. It seems that there might be an error in the given answer of 188 hours.

To find the time it takes for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of its original amount, you can use the formula for calculating the half-life of a first-order reaction.

A first-order reaction follows the equation:

ln([A]t/[A]0) = -kt

Where [A]t is the concentration of A at time t, [A]0 is the initial concentration of A, k is the rate constant, and t is time.

Given that the half-life (t1/2) for the conversion of A to B is 56.5 hours, we can use this information to find the rate constant (k) using the formula:

t1/2 = ln(2)/k

Plugging in the given half-life value, we get:

56.5 hours = ln(2)/k

Now, we need to find the time it takes for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of its original amount. Let's call this time t.

Since the concentration of A at time t is 10% of the initial concentration ([A]t/[A]0 = 0.10), we can rewrite the equation as:

ln(0.10) = -kt

Now, let's solve for t:

-kt = ln(0.10)

Using the previously calculated value of k (from the given half-life):

-56.5 * k = ln(0.10)

Now, we can solve for k:

k = -ln(0.10)/56.5

Finally, substitute the value of k back into the equation to find t:

-56.5 * (-ln(0.10)/56.5) = t

Simplifying the equation:

ln(0.10) = t

Using logarithmic properties, we can express this equation as:

t = -ln(0.10)

Calculating the value:

t = -ln(0.10) ≈ 2.944 hours

Therefore, it takes approximately 2.944 hours (or 188 hours, as rounded by your professor) for the concentration of A to decrease to 10% of its original amount.