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PLEASE HELP. A substance decays according the the equation ae^-0.0025t, where t is in minutes. Find the half life of the substance. Round to the nearest tenth.

User Yosher
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1 Answer

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First of all, that's not an equation. An equation needs an 'equals' sign ( = ),
so you need something like

Amount present = a e^-0.0025t .

'a' = amount present when t = 0 .

The half-life is the time it takes for the original amount to decay to half of it.

That's just 't' when e^-0.0025t = 1/2

Take the natural log of each side: -0.0025t = ln(0.5)

Divide each side by -0.0025 : t = ln(0.5) / (-0.0025) =

(-0.69315) / (-0.0025) =

t = 277.26 minutes

( 4hrs 37min 15.5sec)

Rounded to nearest tenth: t = 277.3 minutes .


User Travis Griggs
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