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It is difficult to point to any one radioisotope and say that it has the shortest half-life. That's because there are a number of extremely unstable radionuclides that have been created in the high energy physics lab. These isotopes decay almost immediately, and the half-lives of some of some of them fall in the range of 10-3 seconds to 10-9 seconds or even shorter.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoBismuth-209, though normally considered stable, is suspected of having a halflife of about 2E17 years via alpha decay. Halflives of this order of magnitude, being much longer than the age of the universe (about 13E9 years) are impossible to measure with any certainty.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoI believe it is selenium 82 with a half life of 1.3*10 to the 20 years or 130 quintillion years!
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoSelenium 82 has the longest recorded half-life at this point in time. It has a half-life of approximately 1.08×1020 years.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThere are many radioactive isotopes with short half-lives. One of them is 6C15 with a half-life of 2.449 seconds.
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Can the half life of a radioactive isotope decrease as the isotope decays?
No, the half-life of a radioactive isotope does not decrease as the isotope decays. That half-life remains constant. It's the amount of the substance that decreases as the isotope decays.
If the isotope have short half lives is that mean that the isotope is in a stable condition?
No. Only radioactive elements have half-lives, the half-life is the time that it will take for half of the atoms in a sample of a radioactive isotope to decay into another element or isotope. This is a constant property of the isotope and does not depend on the sample size. Stable isotopes never decay.
How are radioactive isotopes used determine the absolute age of igneous rock?
Answer : When the isotopes decay, scientists can find out how old the rock is depending on the radioactive isotope's half-life. Explanation: Radioactive isotopes are unstable and will decay. For example, when humans die carbon-14 decays. The isotopes will decay into a stable isotope over time. Scientists can tell how old the rock was from looking at the radioactive isotope's half-life, which tells them how long it would take for there to be half the radioactive isotope and half the stable isotope. At the next half-life there will be 25% of the radioactive isotope and 75% of the stable isotope. At the next half life there will be 12.5% radioactive and 87.5% stable. Example: Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope with a half life of 5,730 years. How old would carbon-14 be when there is 75% carbon-14 in the rock? 75% is half of the time before the half-life, so it would be 2,365 years. Hope this helps. Half life helps scientists find how much the isotope has decayed and the age of the rock.
What is the time needed for half of a radioactive isotope to break down to form daughter isotope?
It's called "half life".
What is the disintegration rate of radioactive elements?
It varies from one element to another. It is measured in terms of its half-life. A half-life is the length of time it takes for half the number of radioactive atoms of the element in a lump to decay.
Can the half life of a radioactive isotope decrease as the isotope decays?
No, the half-life of a radioactive isotope does not decrease as the isotope decays. That half-life remains constant. It's the amount of the substance that decreases as the isotope decays.
What is the half life of an isotope?
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.
What is half life of a isotope?
The half life of an isotope refers to the rate at which a radioactive isotope undergoes radioactive decay. Specifically, it is the amount of time it takes for half of a given sample of a radioactive isotope to decay.
Isotope A has half-life of seconds and isotope B has a half-life of millions of years which isotope is more radioactive?
Isotope A
If the isotope have short half lives is that mean that the isotope is in a stable condition?
No. Only radioactive elements have half-lives, the half-life is the time that it will take for half of the atoms in a sample of a radioactive isotope to decay into another element or isotope. This is a constant property of the isotope and does not depend on the sample size. Stable isotopes never decay.
Can only a radioactive isotope will have a half-life?
Yes.
Does the half life of a radioactive isotope change?
No. It is a constant.
How are radioactive isotopes used to determine the absolute age of igneous rock.?
Answer : When the isotopes decay, scientists can find out how old the rock is depending on the radioactive isotope's half-life. Explanation: Radioactive isotopes are unstable and will decay. For example, when humans die carbon-14 decays. The isotopes will decay into a stable isotope over time. Scientists can tell how old the rock was from looking at the radioactive isotope's half-life, which tells them how long it would take for there to be half the radioactive isotope and half the stable isotope. At the next half-life there will be 25% of the radioactive isotope and 75% of the stable isotope. At the next half life there will be 12.5% radioactive and 87.5% stable. Example: Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope with a half life of 5,730 years. How old would carbon-14 be when there is 75% carbon-14 in the rock? 75% is half of the time before the half-life, so it would be 2,365 years. Hope this helps. Half life helps scientists find how much the isotope has decayed and the age of the rock.
How are radioactive isotopes used determine the absolute age of igneous rock?
Answer : When the isotopes decay, scientists can find out how old the rock is depending on the radioactive isotope's half-life. Explanation: Radioactive isotopes are unstable and will decay. For example, when humans die carbon-14 decays. The isotopes will decay into a stable isotope over time. Scientists can tell how old the rock was from looking at the radioactive isotope's half-life, which tells them how long it would take for there to be half the radioactive isotope and half the stable isotope. At the next half-life there will be 25% of the radioactive isotope and 75% of the stable isotope. At the next half life there will be 12.5% radioactive and 87.5% stable. Example: Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope with a half life of 5,730 years. How old would carbon-14 be when there is 75% carbon-14 in the rock? 75% is half of the time before the half-life, so it would be 2,365 years. Hope this helps. Half life helps scientists find how much the isotope has decayed and the age of the rock.
What is the half- life of radioactive carbon?
Carbon-14 or 14C, which is a radioactive isotope of carbon, has a half life of 5,700 years.
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 information does the half-life of a radioisotope give?
It tells how long it takes for a radioactive isotope to become a daughter element.
