Question

An element with mass 780 grams decays by 16.3% per minute. How much of the element is remaining after 16 minutes, to the nearest 10th of a gram?

Answer 1

45.3 grams will be left

Explanation:

Use the formula

A = P(1 - r)^t where A is the final amount, P is the initial amount, r is the percent change as a decimal, and t is the amount of time

Plug in what we know, we are given P = 780, r = 0.163, and t = 16

A = 780(1 - 0.163)^16

Now simplify...

A = 780(0.837)^16

A = 45.25868493

A = 45.3