What is the half-life of radioisotopes?
What is the half-life of radioisotopes?
The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the amount of time it takes for one-half of the radioactive isotope to decay. The half-life of a specific radioactive isotope is constant; it is unaffected by conditions and is independent of the initial amount of that isotope. Consider the following example.
What is half-life in nuclear physics?
half-life, in radioactivity, the interval of time required for one-half of the atomic nuclei of a radioactive sample to decay (change spontaneously into other nuclear species by emitting particles and energy), or, equivalently, the time interval required for the number of disintegrations per second of a radioactive …
How do you calculate half-life in nuclear physics?
The time taken for half of the original population of radioactive atoms to decay is called the half-life. This relationship between half-life, the time period, t1/2, and the decay constant λ is given by t12=0.693λ t 1 2 = 0.693 λ .
Why is radioactive half-life important?
Knowing about half-lives is important because it enables you to determine when a sample of radioactive material is safe to handle. The rule is that a sample is safe when its radioactivity has dropped below detection limits. And that occurs at 10 half-lives.
What is a half-life in Physics GCSE?
Half-life is the time it takes for half of the unstable nuclei in a sample to decay or for the activity of the sample to halve or for the count rate to halve.
What half-life explained?
A half-life is the time taken for something to halve its quantity. The term is most often used in the context of radioactive decay, which occurs when unstable atomic particles lose energy. Twenty-nine elements are known to be capable of undergoing this process.
How is the half-life of a radioactive parent isotope defined?
The half-life of a radioactive isotope: -is the time it takes for one half of the atoms of. the original unstable parent isotope to. decay to atoms of a new, more stable, daughter isotope.