Which statement below correctly explains what is happening to the number of parent and daughter atoms with each half-life?
a
For each half-life, the number of parent atoms increase and the number of daughter atoms increase.
b
For each half-life, the number of parent atoms increase while the number of daughter atoms decrease.
c
For each half-life, the number of parent atoms decrease and the number of daughter atoms decrease.
d
For each half-life, the number of parent atoms decrease while the number of daughter atoms increase.
d
The correct statement is c) For each half-life, the number of parent atoms decrease and the number of daughter atoms decrease.
To determine the correct statement, we need to understand what happens during each half-life. In radioactive decay, the parent atoms decay into daughter atoms over time. Half-life refers to the time it takes for half of the parent atoms to decay.
During each half-life, half of the parent atoms decay into daughter atoms. Therefore, the correct statement is option c: "For each half-life, the number of parent atoms decrease and the number of daughter atoms decrease."