118k views
4 votes
If a sample has 25% parent and 75% daughter, how many halflifes have gone by?

User Piccolbo
by
7.0k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Answer:

Two half lives.

Step-by-step explanation:

It is known that the decay of isotopes and radioactive material obeys first order kinetics.

Also, it is clear that in first order decay the half-life time is independent of the initial concentration.

That means for a sample 100% to decay to 50 % it will take one half-life, and to decay the remaining 50% to 25% it will take another half-life.

So, for a sample has 25% parent and 75% daughter it will have two half-lives.

User Oleg Golovanov
by
7.3k points