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The half-life of bismuth is 5 days. How much of a 100 gram sample will remain after 20 days?

a. 50 grams
b. 12.5 grams
c. 6.25 grams
d. 0 grams

User Rossisdead
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1 Answer

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Half-life is the duration needed for a compound to decay into half of its initial weight. In this case, the initial weight is 100gram. The calculation for the final weight should be:

final weight= initial weight * (1/2)^(duration/half-life)
final weight= 100 grams * (1/2)^(20days/5 days)
final weight= 100 grams * (1/2)^(4)
final weight= 100 * 1/16= 100/16 gram= 6.25 grams

User Shark
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