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A half life of cobalt is 5.27years. Approximately how much a 399 g sample will remain after 20 years?

User CamM
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1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

= 28.745 g

Step-by-step explanation:

Half life is the time taken by a radioactive element to decay by half the original amount.

Therefore;

New mass = Original mass × (1/2)^n

Where n is the number of half lives, in this case, n = 20/5.27 = 3.795

Therefore;

New mass = 399 g × (1/2)^3.795

= 28.745 g

User Matthieu Boisjoli
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8.1k points