Calculating Am-241 Content from Radioactivity Measurements

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Homework Statement


A piece of Am-241 has a radioactivity of 10kBq. Determine how much Am-241 it contains.


Homework Equations


[tex]N(t)=N_0(\frac{1}{2})^{t/T_{1/2}}[/tex]


The Attempt at a Solution


Let A be the activity
Let N be the number of atoms
We know that [tex]A(t)=A_0(\frac{1}{2})^{t/T_{1/2}}[/tex] We can set our initial time to zero, which gives us [tex]A(t)=10kBq=A_0[/tex].
Furthermore, we know that A(t)=-N(t). We also know that [tex]N(t)=N_0(\frac{1}{2})^{t/T_{1/2}} => N'(t)=-\frac{N_0ln2}{T_{1/2}}(\frac{1}{2})^{t/T_{1/2}}[/tex][tex]=>N'(0)=-\frac{N_0ln2}{T_{1/2}}=10kBq => N_0=\frac{10kBqT_{1/2}}{ln2}[/tex]. Now we use that one atom weights 241,0568229u and that the half-life is 432,2 y (I converted it to seconds). Then we get that the mass of our "piece" is approximately 78,7 micrograms. However, in the key it says 1,83 ng.
What am I doing wrong here?
 
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It's much simpler than that
The number of decays in a second is just the number of atoms * the chance of a decay/second
Which is just 1/mean lifetime - which you can easily get form the half life
 


Use this equation.
[tex] A=A_0\exp\left(\frac{-t\ln 2}{T_{1/2}}\right),[/tex]
[tex]A_0[/tex]=10000 Bq,
[tex]T_{1/2}[/tex] is halflife
PS: What is 't' (times passed from initial activity)?