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Understanding Half-Life and Rounding

Half-life is the time it takes for half of the atoms of a radioactive element to decay. The document provides examples of calculating the amount of a substance remaining after a certain number of half-lives. It explains that the formula used is (1/2)^n, where n is the number of half-lives that have passed. The original amount is then multiplied by the result of this formula to determine the amount remaining. The document also discusses rounding numbers correctly and identifying significant figures.

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Joy Perez
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91 views9 pages

Understanding Half-Life and Rounding

Half-life is the time it takes for half of the atoms of a radioactive element to decay. The document provides examples of calculating the amount of a substance remaining after a certain number of half-lives. It explains that the formula used is (1/2)^n, where n is the number of half-lives that have passed. The original amount is then multiplied by the result of this formula to determine the amount remaining. The document also discusses rounding numbers correctly and identifying significant figures.

Uploaded by

Joy Perez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

HALF LIFE

And a little bit of rounding up numbers and


significant digits

Half- Life
What is Half- Life?

Lets see Half- Life is the time that it takes the atom of
an element to fall half its initial amount.
Ex. If an element starts with 100 g
At 1 half- life I will have 50 g of the
product.

Example
How can it be understood?
Lets imagine that I have 10.0 g of an isotope
Called Os- 182 (pretty cool name uh?) and its
half-life is of 21.5 hrs (wao thats short). I want to know how
many grams will I still remain after 3 half-lives.
Ok first use the formula (1/2) n when n is the number of
half lives, the atom goes before it completely decays.
(1/2) 3 = 0.125

Half-lives cont.
Second multiple the original amount of grams by the

number obtained from the half-lives


10. 0 x 0.125 = 1.25 g is the total amount left of the
initial atom.
You can even tell what is the total amount of substance

decayed.
10.0 g 1.25 g = 8.75 g of substance have decayed.

Another example:
The half-life of Zn-71 is 2.4 minutes. If I had 100.0 g at

the beginning, how many grams would be left after 7.2


minutes has passed?
Solution:
7.2 2.4 = 3 half-lives
(1/2)3 = 0.125 (the amount remaining after 3 half-lives)
100.0 g x 0.125 = 12.5 g remaining

Rounding up numbers

Another important part of math and science is getting to

know how to round up correctly. So please follow these


basic steps to help you out. (See the next slide)

Significant numbers (figures)


How do I know which are the significant figures?

Significant figures

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