Monday, February 4, 2013

Calculating Half Life

Introduction to Original half life :-

The formula for Exponential decay is N = N0eKt

N0 is the initial population and the decay rate  is k

N is the final population after the time t with the decay rate k.

Half- Life :-

In half life `N = N_0/2 `

Plug in the the value of  N as `N_0/2` in the initial equation we get .

`N_0/2``=N_0 e^(kt)`

Now canceling N_0 in both side and solving we get .

`1/2 = e^(kt)`

`2^-1 = e^(kt)`

Take ln on both sides of above equation we get

` ln (2^-1) = ln (e^(kt))`

Solving it we get

-1 ln(2) = kt.

Solving for t we get

` t = -ln2/k`

Half life time ` (t) = -ln(2)/k`

Now lets  see some solved problems in the topic origianl half life.


Original Half Life Solved Example Problem

The original half-life of an plutonium particle is 18,000 years. If 30 gram are present now, find how long it will take until only 20% of the original atomic particle remains.

Solution To Half life Day One Solved Example Probblem 1:-

The half period time is 18,000 years.

The initial amount is 30 gram..

We need to find the time it will take to make the 20% of original plutonium particle.

First we need to find the decay constant k.

The formula used for decay constant is

Plug in the values in the formula we get.

`18, 000 = - ln (2)/ k`

Now arraigning the above expression to find the value k we get

`k = - ln (2)/ (18,000)`

The value of ln(2) is 0.6931.

`= -0.6931 /( 18,000)`

`(-0.6931) / (18 000) = -0.0000385`

Therefore the value of decay constant is -0.0000385.

Now we have to find the time when there will be only 20% of atomic particle remains.

`6 = 30 xx e^(-0.0000385 t)`

Now divide by 30 on both side of the above expression.

`6/ 30 = (30 xx e^(-0.0000385 t))/ 30`

`0.2 = e^(0.0000385 t)`

Taking ln on both side of the above expression we get

`ln (0.2) = ln (e^(-0.0000385 t))`

`ln (e^(-0.0000385 t))` can be written as `-0.0000385 t.`

`ln(0.2) = -0.0000385 t..`

Now divide by `- 0.0000385` on both side of the above expression we get .

`ln(0.1)/ -0.0000385 = (-0.0000385 t)/ -0.0000385.`

By solving the above expression we get

`ln(0.2)/ -0.0000385 = t`

By solving the above fraction we get

41,803 = t

20 percent of  30 gram plutonium particle remains after 41,803 years.

Original Half Life Practice Problem

The half-life of an Barium particle is 16,000 years. If 40 gram are present now, find how long it will take until only 10% of the original atomic particle remains.

Answer:-

10 percent of  40 gram plutonium particle remains  after 40,859 years.

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