phyzmatix said:?
chem_is_lovex said:
Click on the "Edit" tab after you posted, the option to delete is somewhere there. Alternatively, you have up to, I think 30min, to edit a post.The half-life of a substance is the amount of time it takes for half of the initial amount of the substance to decay or disintegrate.
The half-life of a substance is determined by the rate at which it decays or disintegrates. This rate is typically measured by the amount of radiation emitted by the substance over a period of time.
No, the half-life of a substance is a characteristic property of that substance and does not change. However, external factors such as temperature, pressure, or chemical reactions can affect the rate of decay and therefore the apparent half-life.
The half-life is used to determine the stability of a radioactive substance and to calculate the amount of time it takes for a given amount of a substance to reach a safe level of radioactivity. It is also used to determine the age of objects through radiometric dating.
The decay constant is a measure of the probability of a radioactive atom decaying in a given time period. The relationship between the half-life and the decay constant is that they are inversely proportional - as the half-life increases, the decay constant decreases, and vice versa.