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1 vote
We have 20 g of a certain element that has a half

life of 10 minutes. 30 minutes pass. How much is
left of that element?

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

After 30 minutes, there is 2.5 g of the element remaining.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate how much is left of the element after a certain amount of time, we can use the concept of half-life. Half-life is the time it takes for half of a sample to decay. In this case, the half-life of the element is given as 10 minutes.

Since 30 minutes have passed, that means there have been 3 half-lives (30/10 = 3). Each half-life reduces the amount of the element by half. So, after 3 half-lives, there is only 1/8 (1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2) of the original amount remaining.

Therefore, there is 20 g * 1/8 = 2.5 g of the element left.

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