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1 vote
Which of the following would have the greatest amount (in moles) of the original

isotope remaining?
A) 1.0 g of Fe-59 after 100 days (half life = 44.5
days)
B) 1.0 g of S-35 after 100 days (half life = 87
days)
C) 1.0 g of P-32 after 100 days (half life = 14.3
days)
D) 1.0 g of Cu-64 after 100 days (half life = 12.7
hours)
E) 1.0 g of I-131 after 100 days (half life = 8.0
days)

User Zolamk
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

The isotope S-35, with a half-life of 87 days, would have the greatest amount of the original isotope remaining after 100 days because more than half but less than a full half-life has passed, leaving more than half of the original amount.

The Correct Answer is Option .B.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine which of the isotopes would have the greatest amount of the original isotope remaining after 100 days, we must consider the half-life of each isotope. The half-life indicates the time required for half of the isotope to decay. The isotope with the longest half-life would have the most original material remaining after a given timeframe.

  • Fe-59 has a half-life of 44.5 days, so after 100 days, just over 2 half-lives would have passed, leaving less than a quarter of the original amount.
  • S-35 has a half-life of 87 days, so after 100 days, more than half but less than a full half-life has passed, leaving more than half of the original amount.
  • P-32 has a half-life of 14.3 days, so after 100 days, numerous half-lives have passed, leaving only a tiny fraction of the original. Similarly, Cu-64 with a half-life of 12.7 hours and I-131 with a half-life of 8.0 days would have very little of the original isotope remaining.

Therefore, the answer is B) 1.0 g of S-35 after 100 days (half-life = 87 days), as it has the longest half-life and hence, would retain the most original isotope after 100 days.

User Amani Ben Azzouz
by
8.4k points