Question

An element with a mass of 870 grams decays by 6.1% per minute. To the nearest minute, how long will it be until there are 270 grams of the element remaining?

Answer 1

To find out how long it will take for the element to decay to 270 grams, you need to use the formula:
Time = (log(Initial mass/Final mass)) / (log(1-Decay rate))

where Initial mass = 870 grams, Final mass = 270 grams, and Decay rate = 6.1%/minute.

First convert the decay rate to decimal: 6.1%/minute = 0.061

Then substitute the values into the formula:
Time = (log(870/270)) / (log(1-0.061))

This will give you the time in minutes, rounded to the nearest minute

Note that the log function here is log base 10, you may need to use calculator or programming to get the result.