Question

The number of grams of a radioactive isotope present after t years is 1500(1/2)^t. What does 1500 represent in this situation if t > 0?

A. [Blank]
B. The initial amount of the isotope.
C. The decay rate of the isotope.
D. The time in years when the isotope is half its original amount.

Answer 1

The number 1500 in the radioactive decay expression 1500(1/2)^t represents the initial amount of the radioactive isotope.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the equation 1500(1/2)^t, which represents the number of grams of a radioactive isotope present after t years, the value 1500 signifies the initial amount of the isotope. This is the quantity of the isotope that was present at the starting point, before any decay has occurred. Over time, as reflected by t, this initial quantity diminishes by half every unit of time, which is the definition of a half-life. The half-life is the period it takes for a substance to reduce to half its initial amount due to radioactive decay.