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Nuclear explosions produce both immediate and delayed destructive effects. Immediate effects (blast, thermal radiation, prompt ionizing radiation) are produced and cause significant destruction within seconds or minutes of a nuclear detonation. The delayed effects (radioactive fallout and other possible environmental effects) inflict damage over an extended period ranging from hours to centuries, and can cause adverse effects in locations very distant from the site of the detonation.
Further reading:
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq5.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoIt depends on the radioactive material. All radioactive isotopes have a property called a "half-life". This is the time it takes for half the atoms in the sample to decay. This concept is a little confusing. "Half" refers to "half of whatever's left," so after one half-life, half of the radioactive material will still be there; after two half-lives, half the original material plus half of the other half will be gone and one quarter will remain; after three half-lives one eighth will remain, and so forth. Complicating this even further is that some materials decay into OTHER radioactive materials which have their OWN half-lives, and which may then decay into YET MORE radioactive materials... As you can see, the bookkeeping can get fairly involved, even without allowing for the fact that some materials have several decay options.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoI'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the question you meant to ask was "how long does a radioactive substance stay radioactive." The answer is that it depends on what the radioactive substance is. Some things decay quickly and are intensely radioactive for a short time but then fall to more or less background levels; other things decay slowly and remain radioactive for a very long time.
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How long will it take half of a radioactive sample to decay?
The length of time depends on the element and isotope, but the point at which half of the sample has decayed is known as the half-life.
What is radioactive half-life used for?
to determine how long it will take to half of nuclids to decay, having use in radioactive materials operations
What is the longest radioactive halflife?
First, it isn't very accurate to talk about a radioactive "element"; you should talk about radioactive isotopes. Different isotopes of the same element can have very different behavior in this sense. For example, hydrogen-1 and hydrogen-2 are stable, while hydrogen-3 is not (half-life about 19 years).Individual atoms, in a radioactive isotope, will decay at a random moment. The half-life refers to how long it takes for half of the atoms in a given sample to decay (and convert to some other type of isotope).
If the half-life of a radioactive substance is 10 hours how long will it take for 50 percent of it to decay?
The half-life of a radioactive isotope is defined as the time taken for the isotope to decay to half of its initial mass. So to decay to 50 percent of its initial mass will take one half-life of the isotope. One half-life of the isotope is 10 hours so the time taken to decay is also 10 hours.
As a sample of a radioactive element decays its half-life?
No, the half life remains exactly the same throughout
What does a half life of a radioactive substance indicate?
It indicates how long it takes for the material to decay.
What does the half life of a radioactive substance indicate?
It indicates how long it takes for the material to decay.
Why scientists use radioactive dating?
To figure out how old something is based how long it takes elements in the sample to decay.
Why do scientist use radioactive dating?
To figure out how old something is based how long it takes elements in the sample to decay.
How long is the half life?
If you are talking about the game made by VALVe, it is 17 chapters long how long they are depends on how long you take to beat them. It took me 10 hours on easy.If your talking about the scientific term, It's how long a radioactive material takes for it to decay 1/2 its mass, this varies form each material
How determine half life?
Carbon-dating
How do scientist use the rate at which radioactive decay in rocks?
they measure how long it takes for half of its unstable molecules to turn to more stable atoms, a half life
How do scientists use the rate at which radioactive elements decay in rocks?
they measure how long it takes for half of its unstable molecules to turn to more stable atoms, a half life
What is radioactive half-life used for?
to determine how long it will take to half of nuclids to decay, having use in radioactive materials operations
How long will it take half of a radioactive sample to decay?
The length of time depends on the element and isotope, but the point at which half of the sample has decayed is known as the half-life.
What is the longest radioactive halflife?
First, it isn't very accurate to talk about a radioactive "element"; you should talk about radioactive isotopes. Different isotopes of the same element can have very different behavior in this sense. For example, hydrogen-1 and hydrogen-2 are stable, while hydrogen-3 is not (half-life about 19 years).Individual atoms, in a radioactive isotope, will decay at a random moment. The half-life refers to how long it takes for half of the atoms in a given sample to decay (and convert to some other type of isotope).
What is the estimate for how long it takes nuclear waste to complettly decay?
Each radioactive isotope has its own rate of decay, called the "half-life". This is the time that it takes for one-half of the radioactive elements to decay into something else. For very radioactive elements, the half-life is pretty short, but sometimes the element that id decays into is itself radioactive. It _NEVER_ completely decays, but at some point the nuclear waste is no more radioactive than the background material. Remember that some elements like uranium are naturally found in rock formations, and that elements like radon are naturally occuring in the environment. This becomes a problem in the basements moutainous areas, where radon gas accumulates and can cause lung cancers. In general, nuclear waste needs to be protected and isolated for about 50 years; after that, the residual radioactivity isn't going to be especially hazardous.
