A sample starts with 1000 radioactive atoms. How many half-lives have elapsed when 875 atoms have decayed?
I am not sure how to solve this, please help!!
see Sidiqi's post below
makes sense to me. After 1 half-life there will only be 500 atoms, so it will be less than that.
Your answer is correct.
there will be three half lives when sample is decreased from 1000g to 875g.....
yall are down tremendously
To solve this problem, we need to understand the concept of radioactive decay and half-life.
Radioactive decay is the process by which an unstable nucleus of an atom loses energy by emitting radiation. The half-life is the time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay.
Here's how we can solve the problem:
1. Start with the initial number of radioactive atoms, which is 1000.
2. As each half-life passes, half of the radioactive atoms decay. So, at the end of the first half-life, the number of remaining atoms would be 1000/2 = 500.
3. Similarly, at the end of the second half-life, the number of remaining atoms would be 500/2 = 250.
4. We can continue this process until we reach a number close to 875 atoms. Let's calculate the number of half-lives needed using a table:
Half-Life | Remaining Atoms
-------------------------------------
0 | 1000
1 | 500
2 | 250
3 | 125
4 | 62.5 (not possible)
5 | 31.25 (not possible)
Since we cannot have a fraction of an atom, the number of half-lives elapsed when only 875 atoms have decayed is 3.
Therefore, 3 half-lives have elapsed when 875 atoms have decayed in this radioactive sample.