Radioactive decay.

benhorris

Simple question, but i dont know where to start.

The half life of one radioactive isotope of sodium is 2.6 years. Show that its decay constant is 8.4 x 10^-9 s^-1.

Thanks in advance,

Ben.

H_man

[tex] T_h = \frac {ln2} { \lambda} [/tex]

But remember to convert the time into seconds!

iNCREDiBLE

Do you know the following identity [itex]T = \frac{ln 2}{\lambda}[/itex], where [itex]T[/itex] is the half life in seconds and [itex]\lambda[/itex] is the decay constant.

benhorris

Ah got it,

Thanks guys.

Was a simple error, i converted it to seconds by doing =

2.6 x 365 x 3600. And i forgot about the hours.

3600 x 24 x 365 x 2.6 = no.seconds gave the correct answer.

Silly mistake.

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benhorris	Radioactive decay. Tweet Simple question, but i dont know where to start. The half life of one radioactive isotope of sodium is 2.6 years. Show that its decay constant is 8.4 x 10^-9 s^-1. Thanks in advance, Ben.

H_man	[tex] T_h = \frac {ln2} { \lambda} [/tex] But remember to convert the time into seconds!

iNCREDiBLE	Do you know the following identity [itex]T = \frac{ln 2}{\lambda}[/itex], where [itex]T[/itex] is the half life in seconds and [itex]\lambda[/itex] is the decay constant.

benhorris	Radioactive decay. Ah got it, Thanks guys. Was a simple error, i converted it to seconds by doing = 2.6 x 365 x 3600. And i forgot about the hours. 3600 x 24 x 365 x 2.6 = no.seconds gave the correct answer. Silly mistake.