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Exponential Decay question?

I'm completely stuck on my math homework. The instructions are to complete the table for the radioactive isotope.

Isotope: 226Ra

Half-Life (years): 1599

Initial Quantity: 10 g

Amount after 1000 years: ______

You're supposed to use the exponential decay formula but i'm not sure how you're supposed to apply it. Help?

1 Answer

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  • Anonymous
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Just use the correct formula...

    Beginning amount = 10

    Half-life = 1599

    Elapsed time = 1000

    The formula is

    final_amt = beg_amt / ( 2^( time / half_life )) )

    Then

    Final amount = 6.48 g

    I suggest you see http://matrixlab-examples.com/half-life-calculator...

    .

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