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What does the half life of a radioactive substance indicate?
It indicates how long it takes for the material to decay.
Why are radioactive isotopes and half life important to science?
Radioactive isotopes are important because they can be used as tracers in medicine and industry, and in dating rocks and fossils. The concept of half-life is important because it allows scientists to predict how long it will take for a radioactive material to decay to half its original amount, which is crucial for understanding processes like nuclear decay and radioactive dating.
Why a geiger counter gives a lower counting rate for radioactive material that has a long half life than does with short half life?
A Geiger counter detects radiation by counting the number of decay events that occur. Radioactive material with a long half-life decays more slowly, resulting in fewer decay events per unit time compared to material with a short half-life. Therefore, the Geiger counter will record a lower counting rate for radioactive material with a long half-life.
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 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 biggest problem with radioactive waste?
It has a very long half-life. Disposal of radioactive waste is the biggest problem. Proper disposal is essential to ensure protection of the health and safety of the public and quality of the environment including air, soil, and water supplies.
As a sample of a radioactive element decays its half-life?
The half-life of a radioactive element is the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample to decay. As the sample decays, the number of radioactive atoms decreases while the number of stable atoms increases. The process continues in this manner, with each half-life reducing the amount of radioactive material by half.
What does the half life of a radioactive substance indicate?
It indicates how long it takes for the material to decay.
What does a half life of a radioactive substance indicate?
It indicates how long it takes for the material to decay.
How long will it take half of a radioactive sample to decay?
The time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to decay is known as the half-life. Each radioactive element has a unique half-life, which could range from fractions of a second to billions of years. The half-life remains constant regardless of the size of the initial sample.
Why are radioactive isotopes and half life important to science?
Radioactive isotopes are important because they can be used as tracers in medicine and industry, and in dating rocks and fossils. The concept of half-life is important because it allows scientists to predict how long it will take for a radioactive material to decay to half its original amount, which is crucial for understanding processes like nuclear decay and radioactive dating.
What is the problem with disposing of radioactive wastes is that they have a long what?
Radioactive substances have half-lives. This is because the isotope constantly is changing from the radioactive isotope to a daughter element. For example, eventually, when uranium's radioactivity is gone, it becomes lead. After one half life of a radioactive substance, only 50% of that substance is still radioactive. Therefore, after one half-life, a piece of uranium is 50% lead and therefore %50 less radioactive. After another half-life, it has 25% of the original radioactivity, and 75% of the original uranium has become lead. This is the problem with radioactive wastes. It takes many years just for one half lives for some substances, such as uranium. Because radioactivity is harmful, those substances have to be stored until they are no longer radioactive. So, in short, the problem with disposing of radioactive wastes is that they have long half-lives. (although this is not true with ALL substances because some have short half-lives, but, in general, radioactive substances have long half-lives.
Why a geiger counter gives a lower counting rate for radioactive material that has a long half life than does with short half life?
A Geiger counter detects radiation by counting the number of decay events that occur. Radioactive material with a long half-life decays more slowly, resulting in fewer decay events per unit time compared to material with a short half-life. Therefore, the Geiger counter will record a lower counting rate for radioactive material with a long half-life.
Which radioactive element has a half life of 4.5 billion years?
The radioactive element with a half-life of 4.5 billion years is Uranium-238. It is commonly used in radiometric dating to determine the age of rocks and materials on Earth due to its long half-life.
What is radioactive half-life used for?
Radioactive half-life is used to measure the rate at which a radioactive substance decays. It is important in determining the amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive substance to decay into a stable form. This information is useful in various fields such as medicine, environmental science, and geology for dating purposes and evaluating risks associated with radioactive materials.
How long does it take for this radioactive material to decay through 2 half-lives?
It will take twice the half-life of the radioactive material for it to decay through two half-lives. If the half-life is 1 hour, it will take 2 hours for the material to decay through 2 half-lives.
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.
