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The half-life of cesium-137 is 30 years. Suppose we have a 13-g sample.

(a) Find a function

m(t) = m02−t/h

that models the mass remaining after t years.
m(t) =



(b) Find a function

m(t) = m0e−rt

that models the mass remaining after t years. (Round your r value to four decimal places.)
m(t) =



(c) How much of the sample will remain after 82 years? (Round your answer to one decimal place.)
g

(d) After how many years will only 2 g of the sample remain? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)
yr

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The decay of a radioactive material can be modeled using either the function m(t) = m0(2^-t/h) or the function m(t) = m0e^-rt. To find the mass remaining after a certain number of years, substitute the given value of t into the equation. The mass remaining after 82 years can be found by substituting t = 82 into m(t) = m0(2^-t/h). To find the number of years when only 2 g of the sample remain, set m(t) = 2 in m(t) = m0e^-rt and solve for t.

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) Function m(t) = m0(2-t/h) that models the mass remaining after t years:

The decay of a radioactive material can be modeled using the formula m(t) = m0(2-t/h), where m(t) is the mass remaining after t years, m0 is the initial mass, and h is the half-life of the material.

(b) Function m(t) = m0e-rt that models the mass remaining after t years:

Another way to model the decay of a radioactive material is using the formula m(t) = m0e-rt, where m0 is the initial mass, r is the decay constant, and t is the time in years.

(c) How much of the sample will remain after 82 years:

To find the mass remaining after 82 years, we can substitute t = 82 into the equation m(t) = m0(2-t/h). Calculate m(82) = 13(2-82/30) to find the remaining mass, rounded to one decimal place.

(d) After how many years will only 2 g of the sample remain:

To find the number of years when only 2 g of the sample will remain, we can use the equation m(t) = m0e-rt and set m(t) = 2. Solve for t using the formula t = (1/r)ln(m0/m).

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