Hello . Welcome to PF !Kingyou123 said:
I've been using this fourm. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/decay-constant.24169/ , as a guide and I can't figure out what to do... it's the first assignment of the semester and we haven't gone over this...SammyS said:
C-14 is carbon 14. That's just an identifier for the type of nucleus being addressed. The number 14, will not be involved anywhere in the solution.Kingyou123 said:
Omg, you just made it so easy... so the formula would be 5370=(.5)e^(-(decay)5370) or would I set the entire thing to zero?SammyS said:
No.Kingyou123 said:
Half of the N0 nuclei would remain.SammyS said:
Correct.Kingyou123 said:
So the formula would start looking like this .5=(.5)e^-(decay)5730SammyS said:
How did you get that?Kingyou123 said:
I assumed that .5 is half, I get confused when I don't enter values in. So No/2=N0e^-(decay)5730? The thing that confuses me is what values to put in the fourmla that I have now.SammyS said:
You should use another set of parentheses to make that technically correct.Kingyou123 said:
Okay I divided both sides by No and then took the natural log of both sides. Afterwards I divided by -5730 to get my answer, correct?SammyS said:
Yes, but 5730 is in units of years. That gives you the decay constant in units of years-1. MKS would be in units of seconds-1.Kingyou123 said:
A decay constant is a measure of the rate at which a radioactive substance decays, or breaks down, over time. It is represented by the symbol λ and is typically measured in units of inverse time, such as per second or per year.
The value of a decay constant is determined through experimental measurements of the rate of decay of a radioactive substance. This involves tracking the number of atoms that decay over a certain period of time and using mathematical models to calculate the decay constant from this data.
The value of a decay constant can be affected by various factors, such as temperature, pressure, and the chemical environment of the radioactive substance. It can also be affected by the type of radioactive decay that is occurring, as different types of decay have different decay constants.
In most cases, the value of a decay constant remains constant over time. However, in some cases, it may change due to external factors, such as changes in temperature or pressure. Additionally, the value of a decay constant may change as a radioactive substance decays over time and its concentration decreases.
The decay constant and half-life of a radioactive substance are mathematically related. The half-life is equal to ln(2)/λ, where ln(2) is the natural logarithm of 2. This means that the half-life is inversely proportional to the decay constant - as the decay constant increases, the half-life decreases, and vice versa.