answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

You can't talk about "the" half-life for most radioactive isotopes, they vary so widely - between a tiny fraction of a second, to trillions of years and more.

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What is the half -life of most radioactive istopes?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

What makes two istopes of the same element different?

istopes have different numbers of neutrons and most of their elements have several istopes


What is gamma half life?

Most gold is made up of isotopes that have never been observed to undergo radioactive decay and therefore has no known half-life. Some synthetically prepared isotopes of gold may be radioactive and thus have a half-life, the length of which would depend on the particular isotope.


What is the range of half-lives of different radioactive element?

It would be quite difficult to list all radioactive elements and their half lives in this area. Lithium 5 has a half life of about a trillionth of a second. Uranium 238 has a half life of about 4.7 billion years. Since the world is about 4.2 billion years, over half the Uranium 238 is still around. The first element in the Periodic Table, Hydrogen, has a radioactive form, Hydrogen 3. It has a half life of about Twelve and a half years. Helium has a radioactive form, Helium 5. It's half life is a trillionth of a second. Then you get to elements with different radioactive isotopes. You will need to look them up in a handbook. Tin is the element with the most isotopes.


Half-life of a radioisotope is?

The half life of a radioisotope is the time taken for the number of radioactive atoms to decay to one-half. A free neutron has a half life of 10.6 minutes. The half life of carbon 11 is 20.3 minutes. Many isotopes have very short half lives, and many have very long ones.


Is lutetium radioactive?

For most practical purposes, lutetium can be regarded as stable, though it is slightly radioactive. 97.41% of lutetium found in nature is stable, and 2.59% is of an isotope with a half life of 37,800,000,000 years. Like all other elements, lutetium has synthetic radioactive isotopes.

Related questions

What makes two istopes of the same element different?

istopes have different numbers of neutrons and most of their elements have several istopes


What is gamma half life?

Most gold is made up of isotopes that have never been observed to undergo radioactive decay and therefore has no known half-life. Some synthetically prepared isotopes of gold may be radioactive and thus have a half-life, the length of which would depend on the particular isotope.


What is the range of half-lives of different radioactive element?

It would be quite difficult to list all radioactive elements and their half lives in this area. Lithium 5 has a half life of about a trillionth of a second. Uranium 238 has a half life of about 4.7 billion years. Since the world is about 4.2 billion years, over half the Uranium 238 is still around. The first element in the Periodic Table, Hydrogen, has a radioactive form, Hydrogen 3. It has a half life of about Twelve and a half years. Helium has a radioactive form, Helium 5. It's half life is a trillionth of a second. Then you get to elements with different radioactive isotopes. You will need to look them up in a handbook. Tin is the element with the most isotopes.


How long would the area near a nuclear power plant remain radioactive after an accident?

Basically a very long time. Most radioactive isotopes are radioactive for a long time. Uranium 232 has a half life of 69 years and plutonium 238 has a half life of 88 years. Some isotopes are very long lived.


Is europium radioactive?

Europium is radioactive, though for most practical purposes it can be treated as stable. 52.2% of europium is stable. 47.8%, is radioactive 151Eu, but the half life of this is long, at 5,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. Like all other elements, europium has radioactive synthetic isotopes.


What is the radioactive form of carbon?

There are several radioactive forms of carbon. The most familiar, used in carbon dating, is carbon-14. All of the others have very short half-lives.Isotopes of carbon range from carbon-8 to carbon-22. Carbon-12 and carbon-13 are stable and non-radioactive. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years. The longest lived beyond that is carbon-11 at 20.3 minutes.


Describe about the stability of astatine?

All the isotopes of astatine are radioactive and unstable; the most stable isotope is 210At with a half life of 8,1 hours.


Half-life of a radioisotope is?

The half life of a radioisotope is the time taken for the number of radioactive atoms to decay to one-half. A free neutron has a half life of 10.6 minutes. The half life of carbon 11 is 20.3 minutes. Many isotopes have very short half lives, and many have very long ones.


Is lutetium radioactive?

For most practical purposes, lutetium can be regarded as stable, though it is slightly radioactive. 97.41% of lutetium found in nature is stable, and 2.59% is of an isotope with a half life of 37,800,000,000 years. Like all other elements, lutetium has synthetic radioactive isotopes.


Is the element Th radioactive?

Thorium (Th - atomic number 90) is mildly radioactive. 232Th, the only isotope found in abundance, has a half life of 1.4 x 1010 years, making it only mildly radioactive. It fissions through alpha decay into 228Ra (Radium). The most radioactive isotope of Thorium is 231Th, which decays into 231Pa (Protactinum) through beta emission with a half life of 25.5 hours, however 231Th is found only in trace quantities naturally.


Do cadmium conduct electricity?

Yes. Cadmium is radioactive, with over 50% made up of radioactive isotopes, though the half lives so very long that they can be treated as stable for most purposes.Naturally occurring cadmium is composed of 8 isotopes. For two of them, natural radioactivity was observed, and three others are predicted to be radioactive but their decay is not observed, due to extremely long half-life times. The two natural radioactive isotopes are 113Cd (beta decay, half-life is 7.7 × 1015 years) and 116Cd (two-neutrino double beta decay, half-life is 2.9 × 1019 years). The other three are 106Cd, 108Cd (double electron capture), and 114Cd (double beta decay); only lower limits on their half-life times have been set. At least three isotopes - 110Cd, 111Cd, and 112Cd - are stable. Among the isotopes absent in natural cadmium, the most long-lived are 109Cd with a half-life of 462.6 days, and 115Cd with a half-life of 53.46 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 2.5 hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 5 minutes. This element also has 8 known meta states, with the most stable being 113mCd (t½ 14.1 years), 115mCd (t½ 44.6 days), and 117mCd (t½ 3.36 hours).No, Cadmium is not radioactive, though it is toxic.There are, however, several radioactive isotopes of cadmium.


Why is Astatine not a diatomic element?

It is diatomic. Being radioactive, and its most stable isotope having a half life of 8.3 hours, it is usually not considered.