Question

13N decays with a half-life of approximately 10 min to produce 13C, a stable isotope of carbon. For a 1.0g sample of 13N, after one half-life, what mass of 13N remains? What has happened to the remaining mass?

Answer 1

After one half-life, mass of
`^(13)\textrm{N}` remains equal to 0.50 g. Remaining 0.50 g of mass gets converted to
`^(13)\textrm{C}` nuclide.

Step-by-step explanation:

• Half-life of a radioactive nuclide represents the time required for mass of the radioactive nuclide becomes half of it's original amount.
• Here initial amount of radioactive
  `^(13)\textrm{N}` is 1.0 g.
• So, after one half-life, mass of
  `^(13)\textrm{N}` remains equal to
  `((1.0)/(2))g` or 0.50 g.
• As radioactive decay of
  `^(13)\textrm{N}` nuclide yields
  `^(13)\textrm{C}` therefore the remaining 0.50 g of mass gets converted to
  `^(13)\textrm{C}` nuclide